BCR presented the 2022 Social Impact Report, providing an overview of how the company contributed to economic and social inclusion in Romanian communities. The report covers the bank’s main projects and activities, from supporting NGOs and social businesses to financial, digital and entrepreneurial education initiatives.

“Our desire is to develop an ecosystem of learning and collaboration, with the help of which we can generate change for the better, together with partners from different areas of expertise. Because the history of our projects has shown us that if we want to build impact projects in the community, then it is very important for each of us to be connected with the reality of the community. We have the necessary tools, we have the desire to leave a better mark on society and we will continue to accelerate financial, entrepreneurial, digital and environmental education initiatives”, claimed Nicoleta Deliu-Pașol, Director of Communication and CSR, BCR.

The main areas of impact and results highlighted in the report for 2022 are:

Supporting civil society and businesses with community impact, through the BCR and BCR Social Finance programs

• In 2022, the group granted funding of approximately 2.5 million euros for the development of associations and social enterprises, supporting the creation of approximately 1,800 jobs and over 290,000 beneficiaries.
• In addition, 127 organizations benefited from counseling and acceleration programs, and 900 organizations were able to access community support for their causes through Bursa Binelui, the only commission-free donation platform in Romania.

Financial education through the School of Money, the largest program of its kind in Romania

• In 2022, over 67,000 children and adults learned to build a better relationship with money through financial education workshops organized by BCR volunteers and partner associations, as well as through free courses and resources accessible on the scoaladebani.ro platform.
• The LifeLab pilot program was also launched, which aims to integrate financial education into the teaching of other subjects. 2 schools from Romania participate in the program, with over 65 teachers and 1,200 students.

Entrepreneurial education

• 32 startups were accelerated in 2022 through InnovX-BCR, and local technology businesses accessed funding of 19.7 million euros. The InnovX-BCR accelerator aims to offer the Romanian startup community access to the latest technologies, top education, as well as global exposure, through partnerships with 47 top local players at the international level.
• More than 21,000 entrepreneurs benefited from access to entrepreneurial education and information on how to start or develop a business through the free Business School platform.

Digital education

• In partnership with the Adservio platform, BCR supported 21,000 students and 30,000 parents from 144 schools in the country to connect with digital education tools, and together with Brio, provided access to digital education and assessment tools for 1,000 of teachers and 3,000 students.
• More than 60,000 children developed and tested their skills for the future in NextLab Tech, the most important robotics competition in Southeast Europe.

Volunteering and Community

• BCR volunteers directly supported over 1,200 beneficiaries of the Teach for Romania and Carusel organizations in 2022.
• More than 160 NGOs were supported to develop impact programs in local communities
• The BCR Group supported with more than 235,000 euros the organizations offering assistance to Ukrainian refugees, and the BCR Caravan provided basic support directly at the borders.
• InnovX-BCR and Jobful launched the jobs4ukr.com platform, to support the social integration of Ukrainian refugees through access to jobs. In 2022, more than 8,000 Ukrainians and 2,000 employers registered on the platform.