CaixaBank has received an award for being the best entity in the development of its corporate social responsibility in 2024. Thanks to MicroBank, the bank has been able to facilitate access to credit for vulnerable groups. MicroBank thus seeks to contribute to the generation of employment and wealth and to support the well-being of Spanish society.
In 2007, MicroBank was born, a proposal that took over from “la Caixa” Welfare Projects. Its objective was then, and continues to be, “to contribute to social progress” as explained by the same entity. Its fundamental work: providing microcredits, that is, financial aid to small businesses or families that do not have access to the conventional credit market.
Microcredits are loans of up to 25,000 euros without real guarantee. Its objectives are to encourage self-employment, productive activity and personal and family development, among other things, and are always aimed at companies within the fields of the social economy, innovation, education and health.
In 2023 alone, the entity reached the figure of 1,383 million euros granted in financing for projects with positive social impact. That is, MicroBank financed 144,473 projects last year focused both on vulnerable families with difficulties in meeting specific expenses and on entrepreneurs who start a business or sectors that generate a positive social impact.
CaixaBank’s social bank is associated with three European institutions – the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund and the Development Bank of the Council of Europe. These collaborating entities help applicants develop their project and provide technical support to entrepreneurs.
Apart from the financial tools offered by MicroBank, the social bank makes non-financial services available to its clients through MicroBank Academy, an initiative that seeks to contribute to the improvement of the training and skills of entrepreneurs thanks to a wide catalog of free courses.
Agenda 2030
MicroBank seeks to ensure that the business model of the beneficiary companies is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. The social bank especially prioritizes some points on the list, such as number eight, relating to decent work and economic growth. MicroBank created, through microcredits, 28,521 direct jobs in 2023.
Another point of the 2030 Agenda that the social bank takes into account is number 10, related to the reduction of inequality, or number 17, which deals with alliances to achieve different objectives. Measuring the impact of this aid on society is another of MicroBank’s objectives. In 2023, it is estimated that up to 4,468 million euros will be generated in the Spanish economy.
On the other hand, MicroBank pays special attention to female entrepreneurship. In 2023, the entity gave 5,723 microcredits to women, 60% more than the previous year. The three objectives mentioned above are interrelated with six others to which the social bank contributes in a transversal way: the end of poverty, health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, industry, innovation and infrastructure, and responsible production and consumption.
One third of the global microcredit portfolio in Europe
MicroBank granted microcredits to one in four applicants for these loans in the European Union in 2022 according to European Microfinance Network (EMN), a non-profit organization based in Brussels, which promotes microfinance as a tool to fight social exclusion.
According to the same organization, the value of the loan portfolio in Europe amounted to 5,237 million euros in 2022, of which 36% came from MicroBank. Spain, the European country with the greatest impact of microcredits, has a loan portfolio of 2,136 million euros. MicroBank has a market share of 88.6% of this aid in our country.
The same study puts the total number of beneficiaries in Europe at 1,258,806 in 2022. Practically a quarter of them – 24.18% – received this aid from MicroBank, both to boost their businesses and to cover personal expenses.
Ultimately, MicroBank’s objective is to provide financial well-being to families and opportunities to companies to fight against financial exclusion by contributing to the construction of a more solid and inclusive future.
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