Global Alliance for Banking on Values
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), founded in 2009, is a network of banks, banking cooperatives and credit unions, microfinance institutions and community development banks from around the world committed to advancing positive change in the banking sector.
Their collective goal is to change the banking system so that it is more transparent, supports economic, social and environmental sustainability, with a focus on helping individuals fulfil their potential and build stronger communities.
Their members are deeply connected to the people and the communities they serve and they are accountable for the risks they both take and create for the people who use their products and services. Their focus on inclusion puts basic banking products in service of a greater number of people, rather than highly sophisticated products in the hands of a few.
They want to ensure that banking is a healthy and productive system of society and develop a positive, viable alternative to the current banking system. Increasingly, people are becoming aware of the interdependence of the real economy, social cohesion and our natural eco-system, something values-based bankers have long understood, and which is at the heart of the business model. Knowing that people want to support positive change in society, they have an opportunity to demonstrate a healthy transformation of their sector, contribute to societal solutions, and become a reference point for others along the way.
The Global Alliance currently is a relatively small network and comprises 53 financial institutions and partners operating in countries across Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America, North America and Europe. Collectively they serve more than 41 million customers, hold up to $127 billion USD of combined assets under management, and they are supported by more than 48,000 co-workers.
The network provides learning and development opportunities for senior executives, experts and banking professionals at member banks through a Communities of Practice (CofP). The GABV takes a leading role in the debate about how to build a sustainable financial future by managing joint projects among members, experts and partners to help deliver it and by advocating for change.
Their recent research shows that lending to the real economy delivers better financial returns when compared with the largest banks in the world.
Here is a 2 min video on why value-based banks are different:
Current members of the network are here.
Triodos Bank and Ecology Building Society are members in UK. Shouldn't Credit Unions join this?
Retweet about this article:
Geoff Knott, 13/02/2018