Inclusion

Financial and social inclusion

Updated On 2025-04-17

BNP Paribas is the driving force behind many initiatives to promote financial and social inclusion, one of the 5 priorities of the Group’s sustainable development strategy as part of its GTS strategic plan. This commitment aims to contribute to a more just and inclusive society for the most vulnerable, some of whom may have been excluded for socio-economic reasons. BNP Paribas has a long-standing engagement to local development, be it economic, social or cultural and in recognition of its efforts. In recognition of its efforts, the Group was named Best Global Bank for Financial Inclusion in 2024 at the Global Euromoney Awards.

Inclusive and innovative banking models  

To meet the needs of its diverse and sometimes vulnerable customers, BNP Paribas must adapt to develop inclusive and innovative services that combine personalised service and digitalised support. 

Identifying and assisting vulnerable customers

In France, BNP Paribas has developed tools to identify and support vulnerable customers, including Centres Specialized in Budget Solutions (CSSB), as well as a free specific service account. Meanwhile, the AXELLE platform, features offers and services from committed partner companies, as well as advice on managing a budget or finding a job. 

With the acquisition of Nickel in 2017, BNP Paribas has expanded its offering to meet new payment habits. Nickel aims to democratise current accounts by making them accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of their income. Opening and managing an account in real time (without an overdraft facility) is now possible in five minutes, whether online, at a tobacconist, or in a partner neighbourhood store. As the end of 2024, 10 years after its launch, Nickel had 4 million accounts opened in France. With nearly 8,000 points of sale throughout France, Nickel is now the largest current account distribution network in France and aims to become the largest in Europe.

In 2023, BNP Paribas Cardif, the Group’s insurance subsidiary, launched a Social Action Fund to provide exceptional assistance to its customers in personal, financial, social or health-related difficulties. 

Accessing banking services in a few clicks

Access to online financial services is an essential tool for promoting financial inclusion. Hello bank!, BNP Paribas’s 100% digital bank for individuals and free-lance professionals, crossed the million-customer threshold in 2024. Launched in 2013, it was the first digital bank to offer its customers the Livret d’Epargne Populaire, a savings account for lower-income people in France. Hello bank! is one of the three least expensive banks in France (according to Capital magazine’s 2025 Panorabanques analysis, which includes young people, employees, shop owners and executives). 

Meanwhile, Floa, a BNP Paribas subsidiary and a pioneer in payment facilities, helps consumers make purchases through its “Buy Now Pay Later” solution, which allows them to spread out spending. Floa also promotes more sustainable consumption. According to the KANTAR X Floa 2023 analysis of payment habits in Europe, 58% of European users of payment facilities use them to buy a higher-quality or more environmentally friendly product. In addition, the Floa Circle Pay solution contributes to the recycling and refurbishing of household appliances, thus prolonging their lifecycle and facilitating the purchase of other goods. 

Financial and social inclusion is also achieved through microfinance and impact investment

BNP Paribas’s activities may also reach indirect beneficiaries, through products and services for companies and client or partner organisations that have a positive impact on vulnerable or underprivileged people. 

Indirect financial inclusion through microfinance

Most of the world’s unbanked - who the World Bank estimates will number 1.4 billion adults worldwide by 2021 - live in the global south. A disproportionate number are women, rural dwellers and low-income households who lack access to financial services. Microfinance addresses this issue by providing low-income people with access to microcredit and complementary services, both financial and non-financial. Microloans help small projects get off the ground, particularly those started by women entrepreneurs in emerging markets. For more than 35 years, BNP Paribas has supported microfinance institutions (MFIs) in some 30 countries, with a cumulative total of €1.63 billion at the end of 2024. It indirectly supports 3.8 million beneficiaries through 21 MFIs (2023 figure from the latest microfinance report). In order to better target micro-farmers in the regions most affected by the consequences of climate change, BNP Paribas and the JuST Institute have developed a specific financing tool called “Inclusive & Sustainability-Linked Financing” (ISLF+), deployed with four of the Group’s microfinance institution partners for a total of almost €50 million as of the end of 2024. 

Investing in impact projects: another indirect lever for social inclusion 

Since 2014, BNP Paribas has unveiled a proactive strategy to support impact companies through its Act For Impact programme, its own or third-party impact investments, and its expertise in structuring impact contracts. 70% of these companies have a mission to promote the social inclusion of the most vulnerable persons, particularly in the impact areas of access to healthcare and maintaining autonomy, access to education and equal opportunities, and access to employment.

Improving financial education and inclusion of young people 

Helping people, even the youngest among them, to better manage their finances is essential in the fight against over-indebtedness. That’s why BNP Paribas Personal Finance has set up several financial education programmes. These include Budget Responsible, a free digital platform for young people in France, Italy and Belgium, as well as programmes run in partnership with NGOs in France, Portugal and Germany. In 2024, these initiatives raised the awareness of a total of 47,500 young people. 

Meanwhile, BNP Paribas is committed to promoting the professional integration of young people, through various mentorship programmes worldwide, including Ambition1000Mentors in France. Ambition1000Mentors gives Group employees an opportunity to help young people to find their way, look for a job, and develop their career. In this way, BNP Paribas is supporting young people as an employer. In 2024, in partnership with more than 350 schools, universities and training centres, BNP Paribas recruited more than 2,000 students in France under apprenticeship or professional training contracts in more than 300 professions. The Group also recruited young graduates while offering them a special integration path through graduate programmes. 

Promoting equal opportunities

As a major player in a more just and inclusive society, BNP Paribas has taken concrete initiatives to promote a more sustainable environment, involving its employees and supporting solidarity actions with committed partners. 

Equity within the Group and mobilisation of our employees

Ensuring equal treatment in recruitment and employment is a priority for the Group. It has established a diversity, equality and inclusion policy covering five areas: gender equality, people with disabilities, diversity of social and ethno-cultural origin, affective orientation and gender identity, and age and intergenerational relations. For example, through 1MillionHours2Help, an international volunteering programme, employees take part in impact missions with associations during their working hours. 

1.3 M

solidarity hours in 2023 and 2024. 

The programme has already reached its initial target of 1 million solidarity hours.

Our philanthropic activities and the support of our committed partners

The BNP Paribas Foundation, which celebrated its 40-year anniversary in 2024, promotes equal opportunities through several programmes such as the Projet Banlieues in France, which supports local associations working in neighbourhoods that have been identified as priority areas in urban policies. The programme has been implemented in Italy through the BNL’s “Progetto IncluCity”, which supports various associations, including the Fondazione Riva, to promote the integration of underprivileged young people.

BNP Paribas expresses its philanthropic solidarity through a European programme to promote the reception and integration of refugees. 

The Group also responds to emergencies around the world by collecting donations through its Rescue and Recover Fund. In 2024, €2 million was donated to partner NGOs to provide emergency aid in the fight against extreme poverty or violence against women. 

BNP Paribas has partnered with several international organisations working on critical social challenges. Among its many partnerships is the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, which BNP Paribas has supported since 2018 in its mission to raise awareness and support victims of violence and poverty. 

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