The FINANCIAL — Bank Constanta spent GEL 100,000 on CSR projects this year. Art-Gene and Meet Georgia are the main projects that were implemented within the framework of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in 2012. Bank Constanta intends to continue supporting Georgian art and culture in 2013.
The FINANCIAL — Bank Constanta spent GEL 100,000 on CSR projects this year. Art-Gene and Meet Georgia are the main projects that were implemented within the framework of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in 2012. Bank Constanta intends to continue supporting Georgian art and culture in 2013.
“Bank Constanta prefers to implement those projects that are in demand among our customers,” Nana Chkhikvadze, CSR Specialist at Bank Constanta, told The FINANCIAL. “We have been mostly oriented on folk art and its revival. This is not the only way that Bank Constanta supports Georgian culture however. From our Facebook page customers are able to get information about all the regions of Georgia and the local traditions there,” she added.
“Bank Constanta has been the partner of the Art Gene festival for three years already. Within the framework of the festival lots of interesting art is displayed. The young generation is involved in this festival as well. It is a very important event because the purpose of the festival is to maintain and introduce Georgian culture and traditions to the new generation and society at the same time.”
“Art Gene has been a success as this is the only folk festival in Georgia and its goal coincides with the Bank’s strategy to support ethnographic culture in Georgia. It is important that the young generation, who are in general less interested in folk music, attends the festival; this is the segment where we need to promote ethnographic culture the most.”
“Another project which I want to highlight is Meet Georgia. This project envisions studio recordings of amazing representatives of Georgian folklore. The recording will be sold through the internet. The project is being implemented together with the folk ensemble Shavnabada. This is the very first large-scale precedent where these people are given an opportunity to promote their work on international markets online. Within the frames of the project, Bank Constanta opened its new type of saving account ‘Inbox’ for them.”
Q. What are the other CSR projects that Constanta is proud of?
A. Our social responsibility is to bring financial services to where there are none at all. Our choice is to financially help those people who have low incomes. At the moment we are the most active micro-financing organization which operates in the regions. Other banks have not had the possibility to serve this segment. Since its foundation this organization has felt its social mission in this sector. Our activities in the direction of agriculture are equally profitable for the company, for society and for the environment.
As CSR was always a very important direction for Bank Constanta we decided to create a separate department for it this year. To show the strong social performance management is also very important for our international partners and investors.
Q. What are the current standards in CSR?
A. The Social Performance Task Force sorted out six main standards in CSR this year, which we are going to follow. Meeting the standards signifies that an institution has strong social performance management (SPM) practices. To achieve this, institutions must define and monitor social goals; ensure board, management, and employee commitment to social goals; treat clients responsibly; design products, services, delivery models and channels that meet clients’ needs and preferences; treat employees responsibly; and balance financial and social performance.
The original purpose of microfinance was to improve client welfare, but for the last two decades many institutions have focused more on financial sustainability than on the needs of clients. Many of these institutions are driven by financial outcomes because they only manage financial performance. Institutions with a social purpose must also manage their social performance.
The first standard is about the monitoring of social goals. It is an important standard as a company may set a goal and prepare all the projects for implementation, but has not done anything in this regard. Monitoring will always force a company to follow the schedule and fulfil all the plans it had. If we say that we are bringing financial services where there are none at all, we should do monitoring about how their incomes are increasing, whether their income is spent on improvement of their living standards or not, we are really operating in those areas where there are no other institutions. This social mission is reflected in the Bank’s strategy.
We are going to explain to all the employees of Bank Constanta that the second standard about management commitment to social goals is really important. Otherwise a bank cannot achieve those goals which it has set within the framework of CSR.
Without treating clients responsibly it is impossible for a bank to be able to run successfully. I will give you a simple example: a bank should not give a loan to a customer if they will not be able to pay it back; so as not to mislead them we should give them all the information about their payments in detail.
If a company does not care about its employees then it is impossible for the employees to care about the company. Within the framework of CSR, Bank Constanta is creating a satisfactory work environment for its employees. We always care about employee motivation and their encouragement.
Banks should create products which will be oriented on the customer. Banks should provide new products in such a way that the customers understand everything clearly. The products should bring profit to the Bank but should not incur customers’ losses.
Out of these standards some of them are already being implemented at Bank Constanta. We have made priorities about which standard should be the first to be implemented. Relations with our employees and customers are the main priorities at the moment for Bank Constanta. There is a customers’ complaint committee at Bank Constanta. We are studying their complaints and then trying to avoid them in the future.
Q. How much do CSR activities help your company to succeed?
A. CSR is not only about moral obligations. It impacts positively on business. This is a successful step that gives a good image to the company in the eyes of the world and in the country where the company operates. CSR causes demand for a product, helps the company to maintain its clients, to attract human resources. It also helps the company to improve relations with the Government. All these facts improve the business environment in general. It also increases the number of the company’s clients and improves their welfare.
Operating in the agro direction is considered risky by other banks. But we have enough experience of working in this field to create suitable products for our customers. Products that are created in the agro direction are very useful for them. We want to increase our customers’ incomes and improve their living standards.
In this case benefits for Bank Constanta could be positive image, customers’ goodwill, their confidence and loyalty. It is difficult to calculate all of these benefits in numbers, but the satisfied customer is the main goal to achieve.
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