Global Biz

Banking group pledges to touch 1b lives by 2020

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-10 15:48

DHAKA - A group of growing, crisis-resistant and sustainable banks says it has pledged to touch the lives of 1 billion people by 2020, according to a press release on Wednesday.

Leaders of the 11-member Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) made the pledge as they closed their second meeting in Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka on Tuesday, the group's press release said.

"This is a major new pledge that could transform lives on a truly global scale, and make a substantial difference in our efforts to combat climate change," Fazle Hasan Abed, co-founder of the GABV and also chair of the world's largest non-government micro-financing agency BRAC.

"We believe sustainable banking - which focuses on people and the environment as well as profit - should reach one billion people by 2020 when a number of key international targets converge, " said Peter Blom, chair and co-founder of the GABV.

The global banking group, launched at an event in the Netherlands in March 2009, expects the growth to come from expanding its membership significantly by supporting banks looking to adopt genuinely values-driven models, and the creation of new sustainable banks.

"We believe values-led banking can and should make a positive difference to the lives of one in six people within ten years," said Blom, also chief executive officer of European sustainable bank, Triodos.

The GABV has already announced a commitment to raise $250 million in new capital over three years to support the expansion of $2 billion in lending to green projects and unserved communities around the world.

The network, which uses finance to deliver sustainable development for unserved people, communities and the environment, said it represents seven million customers in 20 countries, with a combined balance sheet of over $14 billion.

Members of the GABV are Alternative Bank ABS (Switzerland), Banca Popolare Etica (Italy), Banex (Nicaragua), BRAC Bank Ltd and BRAC Microfinance Program (Bangladesh), other mGLS Bank (Germany), Merkur Bank (Denmark), Mibanco, Banco de la Microempresa (Peru), New Resource Bank (the United States), ShoreBank Corporation (the United States), Triodos Bank (The Netherlands), and XacBank (Mongolia).