Bank Zachodni WBK – Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2016
Read, click and help with Bank Zachodni WBK
Click the objects on the map.
Answer the questions.
Score points for correct answers.
Learn more about the project by clicking on the button ‘Who we help’.
The campaign went on from August 3, 2017 to August 22, 2017. Thanks to the collected points we will carry out a project to support the Karkonosze Hope Association, under which selected childcare facilities will be renovated.
We have completed the stage
of collecting points in order to support a common project.
Thanks to your engagement, we have collected 100,000 points points over the period of 20 days, thanks to which we will be able to help the Karkonosze Hope Association which supports disadvantaged children and families. We still encourage you to continue to play the game in order to get to know more about the social initiatives and projects of Bank Zachodni WBK.
Are you sure you want to quit? You will lose the possibility to contribute to a joint project.
Who we help?
Karkonosze Children and Families Support Association in Jelenia Góra which is a non-profit NGO. The association currently runs seven children’s home with approximately 100 children under their care.
Level 1.Painting30 000
We bought paints, rollers and brushes and started painting the walls in the homes run by the Association.
Level 2.Flooring60 000
Having stable floor is very important. We bought floor panels, laminated insulation foil and skirting boards and we gave the children’s rooms a brand new look.
Level 3.Furnishing100 000
Time to furnish the rooms. Thanks to new equipment and furniture, the children will live in beautifully decorated interiors.
Your engagement made it possible to execute the project in the full scope. Within a very short period of 20 days we collected 100,000 points which were needed to carry out thorough renovation of the selected facilities operated by the Association.
The project will be funded by the Bank Zachodni WBK Foundation.
In each of our activities we want to conform with our values and policies which set forth the ethical standards and principles applicable to our work, such as:
General Code of Conduct,
Respect and Dignity Policy,
Anti-corruption programme
Corporate Defence Model
A range of social and environmental policies
Our employees have an opportunity to report all kinds of ethical misconduct anonymously. For instance, they can call a special helpline operated by the Compliance Area. We launched the RiskPro information and training campaign to increase the employees’ awareness of different risks, including the reputational risk.
Our key values are: Simple, Personal, Fair. This is how we want to be in relationships with customers, business and social partners. The values have an impact on the nature of our organisation and workplace relationships. The policies help us to strengthen the relationships, both inside and outside our organisation.
The BZ WBK Foundation has been supporting the development of young people in Poland for 20 years now. Thanks to the Foundation:/p>
We create opportunities for ambitious and responsible young people and create local leaders.
We promote young people’s creativity and entrepreneurship and support projects which require imagination and courage to implement.
We increase the level of economic knowledge of the younger generation.
The examples include the Bank of Children’s Smiles and the Bank of Ambitious Youth projects with a total number of more than 200 beneficiaries. The Foundation spent PLN 1.4m on both projects.
The BZ WBK Foundation has a history of more than 20 years. WE are proud that we can participate in important social projects and make changes for the better in our direct environment.
We want to develop them, therefore in 2016 we spent PLN 15,162,660 on training.
989 employees received co-funding of the cost of postgraduate studies, foreign language courses and other types of training. In 2017, we joined the group of signatories of the Diversity Charter. 80% of the bank’s employees agree that the bank appreciates and respects the differences related to gender, age nationality, religion, etc.
We are always glad to welcome new organisations among the signatories of the Diversity Charter. We know that together we can achieve much more. Bank Zachodni WBK as the corporate social responsibility leader will certainly share its knowledge, experience and good practices with other signatories.
Since 2010 we have been implementing the Barrier-free Service programme which is intended to ensure high quality service and access to all products and services offered by the bank to customers with various types of disabilities.
In 2016:
More than 1,230 employees of the bank were trained in providing services to customers with disabilities.
231 of our ATMs were Talking ATMs
We recorded 2,426 interactions with customers in the Polish Sign Language (+ 117%)
We carried out the first recruitment campaign on FB in the Polish Sign Language
The Barrier-free Service programme of by Bank Zachodni WBK increases the accessibility of banking services to customers with disabilities and gives them a possibility to manage their finance on their own.
Mikołaj Rotnicki
A customer and partner; Accessibility Specialist, Utilitia sp. z o.o.
The project highlights an important social issue which is dangerous driving and road rage. Its main goal is to enhance the knowledge of traffic rules and promote responsible attitudes and behaviours. Together with the project ambassador, racing driver Kuba Giermaziak, we encourage safe driving, teach people how to drive through roundabouts and propagate the significance of first aid.
The Way You Drive project has attracted:
Over 5,800 project fans and 18 million interactions on Facebook
1.4 million engaged users.
I am not only a racing driver but also a user of public roads. Every year I drive around 80,000 km and I know very well how important is road safety and the proper driving etiquette. Other important aspects include mutual understanding, continuous improvement of one’s own skills and upgrading knowledge. Unfortunately, what you have learned during your driving license courses is not enough
88% of Poles agreed in a survey carried out at the request of BZ WBK that financial education of children is important. Finansiaki.pl to is the only Polish financial education website intended for parents and teachers of children since the age of three which contains, among other things:
Advice for parents how to talk about finance with their children and how to teach them the right attitude to money
Educational stories for the youngest children
Fun zone with quizzes and educational games
17 school lesson scripts on such subjects as spending and saving money, banking or entrepreneurship.
Talking to young children in a simple way about finance is a great challenge. The Finansiaki website offers tools which help to effectively communicate the basic financial knowledge to children of any age .
Agata Trzcińska, Ph.D.
A psychologist from the Psychology Department of the Warsaw University, an expert in financial education
A unique project for young, talented musicians and music lovers. In addition to practicing music, the participants are trained in such topics as self-presentation, media communication, finance and copyright law. The project promotes collaboration, creativity and courage in pursuing goals.
The Santander Orchestra in 2016:
64 young musicians
4 concerts at the invitation of Ms. Elżbieta Penderecka performed as part of the 20th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Lusławice and Warsaw
3,200 people in the audience
216 hours of recordings
Gold Record award (7,000 copies of the album released on the market)
I was positively surprised as I did not have a chance to play in such an energetic orchestra before. It was a great experience and a chance to make many new contacts. I am also grateful for the training in marketing and PR. We often have to raise money to invest in our development since businesses are rather reluctant to sponsor classical music.
We make it easier for customers to get in touch with the bank using new technologies and remote contact channels.
More and more customers use mobile banking only. In 2015, their number was 65,189 and in 2016 it nearly doubled to 113,861.
We are observing a continuous growth in the number of contacts with remote advisors in our video, audio and online chat channels.
Thanks to the continuous development of our Online Advisor service, since March 2016 it has been available also to customers from the SME segment.
In March 2017, BZWBK24 mobile platform received a special award for the best mobile application thanks to the votes of the Internet users in the competition Mobile Trends Awards 2016.
In response to the needs of our customers, we keep developing our online and mobile banking services, as well as our Contact Centre. We talk to the customers using a simple language and adapt the services provided in remote channels to the needs of customers with disabilities.
December 2011 as part of a global initiative which involves more than 1,100 universities worldwide. The underlying assumption of the project is that the collaboration between businesses and academic institutions will have a direct impact on the development of new technologies and research programmes and that the transfer of know-how to Poland will certainly have a positive effect on the economy.
Santander Universidades 2016 in Poland:
55 cooperating universities
2,177 scholarships
1,168 internships
472 projects and more than 50,000 participants
The collaboration within the framework of the programme gives our students a unique opportunity to participate in global projects executed by the best institutions around the world and our University receives valuable support in the implementation of internationalisation and digitalisation projects.
Marcin Wysocki, Ph.D
Chancellor of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Employee volunteering activities are projects in which the employees of Bank Zachodni WBK participate in their free time and use their skills and abilities to support social causes and non-profit organisations.
Volunteers propose the activities they want to support an look for partners. The implemented projects have to respond to the real needs of the local community members.
In 2016, more than 660 employees participated in various volunteering initiatives.
The BZ WBK Foundation donated approximately PLN 196,000 to finance 65 projects.
I appreciate the fact that thanks to the support of the BZ WBK Foundation I can engage in volunteering projects and help satisfy various local needs. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to help people in need and, at the same time, I can be an ambassador of our bank.
The Export Development Programme (EDP) is addressed to businesses which want to enter foreign markets or grow their international presence.
More than 2,670 enterprises have participated in the four editions of the Export Development Programme.
170 companies made direct business contacts with foreign partners during the organised trade missions.
In 2016, more than 800 businesses and 1,500 people participated in the EDP events, including a trade mission of the representatives of food sector companies to Spain.
Our company has been operating on foreign markets for nearly 30 years. We have branch offices in many countries. During the meetings held under the Export Development Programme we learned a lot of interesting facts about the specificity of different local markets from Bank Zachodni WBK which, as a member of the Santander Group, has a thorough knowledge of such markets.
Marek Domaradzki
Export Director in SECESPOL, a company manufacturing heat exchangers
Raising the level of knowledge and skills of the frontline staff responsible for direct contacts with customers is our priority. We keep in mind the important fact that today customers remember the service quality much longer than the price of the service. We also have to remember that quality in business is to a high extent related to the quality of contacts between people and is the key success factor for the achievement of business objectives.
Therefore in 2016 we launched a training programme for branch employees called Practice Makes Perfect and we began issuing quality certificates to managers and directors to enhance their competences in quality management.
In 2016, we carried out a lot of training events for advisors, managers, branch directors and regional directors and a programme of quality certifications, with a support of a team of trainers. Improvement of our skills is a continuous process required to make sure that we will be able to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers.
We published the results of the ”Generations On Finance” survey carried out at the request of Bank Zachodni WBK by 4P Research Mix which demonstrate that generations X and Y look for financial information mainly on the Internet. The youngest respondents (generation Z) ask their colleagues, friends and family members for advice in the first place, while Baby Boomers (persons born between 1946 and 1964) rely on the television and radio as the source of information about finance.
February 2016
In partnership with Kuba Giermaziak, a racing driver, we launched a campaign called ”The Way You Drive”. Its main purpose is to increase the knowledge of traffic rules and promoting responsible attitudes and behaviours, especially among young drivers.
March 2016
Bank Zachodni WBK joined the ”Family 500+” programme offering its customers an opportunity to file an online application for the benefit. The Letter of Intent regarding the partnership agreement was signed in the presence of the Prime Minister Beata Szydło, Minister of the Family, Labour and Social Policy Elżbieta Rafalska and Minister of Digitalisation Anna Streżyńska.
April 2016
The winners of the 12th edition of the BZ WBK Press Photo contest were announced. Altogether, 156 photographs taken by 33 Polish press photographers.
Bank Zachodni WBK became a sponsor of the Polish concert tour of Hans Zimmer, a German film score composer.
May 2016
In May we launched our corporate wellness programme called the Health Bank. The programme is based on a holistic approach to health and its goal is to promote healthy lifestyle and work-life balance among our employees. In cooperation with our partners we carry out educational and motivational activities, support bottom-up initiatives and organise health awareness campaigns.
June 2016
We adopted the Sustainability Policy of Bank Zachodni WBK. Its main goal is to manage the social and environmental risk and build long-term value for all our stakeholders.
Our mobile banking platform was considered the best in Poland by the international research and consulting company Forrester Research.
July 2016
Bank Zachodni WBK offered its customers access to Santander Trade Network. The international platform makes it possible for companies operating internationally to find proven business partners in other countries and use their services on preferential terms.
August 2016
In August the volunteers from Bank Zachodni WBK took part in the collection of school supplies for children from orphanages, foster families and special educational institutions. Thanks to the ‘Back To School’ campaign 240 children received school starter kits.
September 2016
In September, channel 1 of the Polish Television started broadcasting the second season of the “Business Evolutions” programme for small and medium-sized companies produced in partnership with Bank Zachodni WBK. The goal of the project is to assist small business owners in running their companies.
In Poznań, the Digital Lab was opened. It is a specialist multimedia centre in which we develop and present our multi-channel services.
October 2016
As one of the mobile banking leaders in Poland we promote advanced banking solutions. Our employees beat Poland’s record by making the highest number of money transfers to a telephone number at the same time.
Our CSR report for 2015 was recognised by the Internet users and journalists in the Competition for the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Report. It was the only awarded report representing the financial services sector.
November 2016
Santander Universidades Relationship Centres were opened at five Polish universities to give us an opportunity to participate directly in the academic life of the institutions.
The Santander Orchestra’s album was released.
Our Barrier-free Service project won the silver medal in the Polish Project Excellence Awards which recognises best managed projects.
December 2016
For the fifth consecutive year we have qualified to the RESPECT Index listing WSE companies managed in a responsible and sustainable way.
We launched finansiaki.pl website which provides support to the parents and teachers of children aged 3 to 13.
The BZ WBK Ambassadors programme was initiated. Its goal is to involve students in the execution of the bank’s projects.
This is not a correct answer but don’t give up. Score more points for the joint project.
Great answer! But this is not the end – continue playing and scoring the points to support the execution of the entire project. Go for it!
Respect! You have scored 120 points and made a contribution to the renovation of facilities for children.