BNP Paribas is nearly midway through its 2022 to 2025 plan that incorporates its social and sustainability strategies, and it is well ahead of schedule in terms of its targets. The three-year programme was challenged to reach six million individuals for financial inclusion, and, by the end of 2023, the bank had reached 3.9 million.
A large part of this centres on microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout the world, which BNPP uses as one of its main distribution channels for financial inclusion. The bank has provided €345 million to 21 MFIs around the world, including new financial disbursements in India, Indonesia, Brazil, Morocco and Romania. These funds have contributed to creating or maintaining more than 1.4 million jobs. Meanwhile, €247 million has been dedicated to direct lending from the bank, which has benefited around 260,000 people.
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In total, according to BNPP, its partner MFIs had more than 14 million direct beneficiaries, of which 97% were women and 83% rural, who benefited from an average loan amount of €860.
“We don’t see to make a profit with these loans, we just aim at breaking even,” says Alexandre Nayme, head of Europe and Africa for inclusive finance at BNPP. “We just want to cover our operational costs. Our role is to facilitate the work of our colleagues on the ground and to make sure they ‘change their glasses’ when they are assessing microfinance institutions in their own countries.”
Meanwhile, in BNPP’s home market of France, the bank has been leveraging its digital account for the unbanked. Its subsidiary, Nickel, promotes financial inclusion by allowing accounts to be opened without any conditions. Having a bank account is often a precondition for finding employment or housing, so Nickel helps breaks the Catch-22 situation of the unbanked and the unemployed.
Account holders simply need a form of ID (Nickel accepts more than 190 nationalities) and a mobile telephone number. As well as being a fully digitized platform, Nickel also has a current account and a debit-card offering available through more than 7,000 tobacconists and newsagents in France, as well as at local point-of-sale locations in Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Germany. The bank is open to all – even individuals under banking supervision – and allows completely free banking.
By the end of 2023, Nickel had opened 3.7 million accounts, creating important access to financial services for many key segments targeted by the financial inclusion strategy. For example, 77% of Nickel account holders have income of less than €1,500 a month, 30% are unemployed without any regular income, and for 28% of all clients, Nickel is their first account.
Nickel has also been a very effective tool in helping with the integration of refugees in Europe, tying in with BNPP’s sponsorship programme that promotes integration by enabling both minors and adults to learn the language of the host country. This then aids professional training and education. BNPP provided €1.8 million to 30 associations involved in this area in 12 countries in 2023.
Our role is to facilitate the work of our colleagues on the ground and to make sure they ‘change their glasses’ when they are assessing microfinance institutions
Alexandre Nayme
The bank also has financial education outreach campaigns active throughout Europe to help low-income individuals understand the concepts of budget management, savings, loans and banking.
In 2023, BNPP extended its Axelle Platform, which allows customers to find help, advice and tips offered by partner associations, social enterprises and member companies of France’s business collective for a more inclusive economy. Axelle is completely free, anonymous and aimed at those with low incomes.
It also extended its strategies last year to help the most vulnerable individuals in society gain access to banking services. For example, the bank focused on its approach to victims of financial domestic abuse – a term designating acts aimed at maintaining dependency on household members or withholding financial resources. BNPP introduced new training to its financial advisers to help them identify and guide potential victims – as well as proposing access to Nickel in case of an urgent need to leave the household.
“There has been a lot of complacency in society about domestic abuse – and that includes banks – so we have had to become much more proactive in identifying those who might be at risk,” says Claudia Belli, head of inclusive finance at BNPP. “We have included different business lines of the bank in this effort. So, for example, Nickel has been a large part of that: we can tell these women they can have their own accounts set up in 10 minutes. No one will know, there’s no paperwork going to be sent to your house. They also provide practical advice, such as telling women to open a new bank account and put money into it before leaving, because joint accounts can be drained quickly by the abuser.”
