Responsible solidarity bank products **
Objectives :
- Preserve the Group's image as a responsible company,
- Support solidarity actions through bank products.
Priority :
- Enhance the Group's range of responsible banking products and services.
Highlights in 2009 :
- Increase in the range of charity bank cards,
- Further involvement in associations: market share of over 10%.
Today, more than 38 000 customers of Société Générale hold a "charity" bank card. Solidarity savings – Conciliance Conciliance is a service that enables customers to donate all or part of the income generated on their savings to one or more charities from a list of thirty organizations.
In 2009, the service collected a total € 101,614 for charity. Customer loyalty and charitable giving SG Services, is a retail banking subsidiary that manages the Group's Jazz, Pack Jeunes and Alterna loyalty schemes. Subscribers to these schemes collect points which entitle them to a selection of gifts. Under the regulations governing sales with premiums, Société Générale donates a financial contribution on each gift order which is then paid in full to various associations. Thanks to these schemes, the bank was able to pay € 83 600 to Handicap International and the Nicolas Hulot Foundation for Nature and Humanity in 2009.
Subscribers can also convert their loyalty points into donations to Handicap International, with SG Services contributing a further 40% of the donations made. All told, the bank's different schemes collected over € 82 000 for charity in 2009. Sustainable development savings and loans The ceiling on Société Générale's livret Développement durable (which replaced the bank's former savings passbook) was increased from € 4 000 to € 6 000 in January 2007.
Funds saved must, however, be used to finance work to allow for energy savings in customer homes. Launched by Société Générale in May 2007, sustainable development loans are granted in the form of a consumer loan (from € 500 to € 21 500 over a maximum of 7 years), or a home loan (for sums of over € 21 500, the duration of the loan can be extended by up to 30 years) depending on the type of work to be carried out.
Since the launch of the range, some 6 500 loans have been granted for a global amount of nearly € 83 million.Eco interest-free loan Société Générale introduced its Eco interest-free loan in June 2009. Under the terms of the loan, individual customers can borrow up to € 30 000 over a period of 10 years to finance work to allow for energy savings in their homes. At the end of 2009, Société Générale had granted nearly 3 400 Eco loans. Loans for young professionals In partnership with France's Caisse Nationale d’Allocations Familiales and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Société Générale is the only bank to issue the Prêt Jeunes Avenir. Reserved for young people between the ages of 18 and 24, it is intended to finance the costs linked to a new job. Ranging from € 500 to € 5 000, it is interest-free and there are no bank charges.
Since it was first introduced at the end of 2007, Société Générale has given a helping hand to over 1 700 young people starting out in their professional lives. ** In line with our Global Compact commitments
NOTES
- At the end of 2009, partner associations included: the French Red Cross; Institut Pasteur; Association des Paralysés de France; Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer; Ordre de Malte France; Ligue contre le Cancer; UNAPEI; Fondation Pour la Recherche médicale, Société Protectrice des Animaux, Trente Millions d’Amis, Fondation Sylvain Augier, Petits Frères des Pauvres, Secours Catholique and Terre Fraternité.