The Bank’s corporate social and environmental responsibility

One of the Bank’s most important values is assuring highest quality of service. Analysing Customers’ opinions with use of such modern methods as behavioural economics, service design or UX surveys, services are designed, which reflect their expectations. The Bank provides Customers with solutions, thanks to which they can not only manage their finances but also use non-financial services. The Bank’s app and website give Clients i.a. access to e-administration, the opportunity to buy public transport tickets, to get motor insurance or pay motorway toll. A number of improvements were introduced for Customers with disabilities i.a. website, branches, cash machines and service adapted to the needs of this group of Clients. Bank Millennium is extending its concept of a world without barriers to other areas, in which it is active, including culture sponsoring. By providing cinema films with audiodescription during Millennium Docs Against Gravity, Poland’s biggest documentary films festival, it was facilitating access to the world of culture for persons with sight impairments. In 2019 the Bank came 1st in the “Access” category in the Ranking of Banks by Miesięcznik Finansowy Bank.

The Bank is focused on compliance with ethical sales principles. Branch Employees are required to observe ethical standards contained in the Bank Millennium Code of Ethics as well as in rules for selling particular products. All Employees of the Bank obligatorily take part in Code of Ethics training and have the possibility to report unethical behaviour via the whistleblowing system.

Solutions, which were implemented in the area of service quality, have contributed not only to improvement of Customer satisfaction (93% satisfied with their relationship with the Bank) but were also appreciated by the market. In 2019 in a survey by Bain & Company advisers, Bank Millennium had the highest NPS result among Polish banks, which describes the willingness of customers to recommend services to acquaintances. In the Stars of Banking 2019 competition the Bank made it to the podium three times, winning i.a. in the “Customer Relationship” category. The Bank was acclaimed as the Customer Experience leader in the Polish financial sector on the list of TOP 100 Brands prepared by KPMG and was in the top ten out of one hundred best brands in Poland. It was also the most often recommended bank in Poland with loyalty measured with the market’s highest NPS score of 52 (“Bank customers satisfaction monitor 2019”, ARC Rynek i Opinia).

Apart from assuring attractive work conditions, development and social support, the Bank offers programmes for working parents, the opportunity to take part in charity actions and employee volunteering as well as Millennium Active Zone events, which promote a healthy lifestyle. It also supports Employees in their passions by co-financing MilleKlub sports, cultural and recreational projects. The Bank is also signatory of the Diversity Charter – an international initiative promoted by the European Commission. It is a commitment signed by organisations deciding to introduce a ban on discrimination in the workplace and to act towards creating and promoting diversity.

Detailed information about HR policy of Bank Millennium Group is in the “Human Resources Management” chapter 8 of this report..

Purchasing regulations include the requirement to use ethics and/or environmental clauses in contracts where such provisions may be applied (e.g. OHS clauses in contracts on construction services; environmental clauses in recycling contracts). Moreover every supplier bidding for a contract signs a commitment to observe principles stipulated in the Code of Ethics of Bank Millennium Group. Contracts signed since 2018 have a clause, which confirms compliance by the suppliers with the Code of Ethics.

Community programmes

Community programmes are largely implemented via Bank Millennium Foundation and focus on two areas:

a) Financial education

The proprietary “Financial ABCs” kindergarten children education programme has been prepared and is being implemented by Employees of Bank Millennium in cooperation with a non-governmental organisation. Its goal is to explain through fun and play the basic notions from the world of finance to the youngest. In total almost 2200 workshops were held in the programme to train approximately 53,000 children from approx. 620 kindergartens all over Poland. The programme is carried out under the honorary sponsorship of the Minister of Education and the Children’s Ombudsman, which confirms its strong educational value. In 2019 the Financial ABCs came first in the “Golden Banker” competition in the “Socially Conscious Bank” category.

b) Employee volunteering

For over 10 years Bank employees have been implementing and participating in various charitable and educational campaigns in all Poland, often in cooperation with non-governmental organisations. The most important volunteer programme is “Millantrop” run by the Bank Millennium Foundation. This is a grant competition addressed to Bank Millennium employees under which the best social projects are awarded. So far the initiatives financed with these grants have included more than 500 volunteers, who implemented programmes for more than ten thousand beneficiaries.

In 2019 Bank Millennium and ex-Euro Bank employees also joined a charity campaign, „Our People 3”: Together to the Moon”. It consisted in sports activities, mileage accumulation and jointly “covering” the distance between the Earth and the Moon. For every kilometre covered by an employee Bank Millennium donated PLN 1 for social causes – for beneficiaries of the “I Have a Dream” Foundation and DKMS – and for grants awarded in the “Millantrop” competition for the best volunteer projects. „Our People 3” involved over 1 250 people and over PLN 380 thousand was donated for social causes.

Sponsoring of culture

For more than 30 years now Bank Millennium has been supporting national and local cultural events. It is a sponsor of culture 360° – promoting art in almost all its forms, including: music, painting, sculpture, film, theatre, photography, literature and performance. For 17 years it funded the “Golden Sceptre” award for eminent artists; for 11 years was the sponsor of “Pearls of Millennium” – a joint project of the Bank and TVP, which aimed to produce, promote and present artistic events in the high art realm on Polish TV. For 17 years it has been sponsoring the International Festival of Traditional Jazz „Old Jazz Meeting – Złota Tarka”. For 8 years it has been with the “Sacrum Profanum” contemporary music festival and for 8 years with Bella Skyway Festival – a multimedia show prepared by an international group of artists. For 7 years it was associated with the Two Theatres Festival; for 5 years with the Gdańsk Music Festival, it also supported the Mozart festival at the Warsaw Chamber Opera and many others.

The most important cultural project sponsored by the Bank is the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival. This is Poland’s biggest world documentary film festival together with side events (workshops, discussions and concerts). In 2019 festival shows and events were held in 6 cities in Poland and had an audience of more than 92,000 (vs. 4,500 in 2004). Bank Millennium has been a partner of Millennium Docs Against Gravity for 14 years now and in 2016 it became the naming rights sponsor of the festival. In 2019 particular attention was given to the availability of culture to persons with vision and hearing impairments. Selected films were available with audio description and voice overs available in the AudioMovie app at shows in Warsaw and Wrocław.

Supporting innovation

In its social activity Bank Millennium analyses trends concerning innovation in the market environment. Every year the Bank’s experts prepare the “Millennium Index – Regional Innovation Potential”, which describes disparities in development of innovation in Polish Voivodeships.

Supporting academic education

The Bank offers students and graduates the opportunity to develop their skills, interests and to gain first professional experience by means of offering a programme of “Millennium Bankers” paid internships, free training and workshops as well as the opportunity to become the Bank’s ambassador at leading universities in Poland.

The Bank is also a partner of coworking SGH – a venue for meetings, networking, consultations with business theoreticians and practitioners from the School and the Bank. The coworking centre enables students and graduates, who established or are planning to establish a start-up and want to clash their ideas with the business reality, to work in an unrestricted environment.

Climate protection issues have always been important for the Bank. The Bank carried out activities aimed at reducing emissions in the organization and in commercial projects, although historically the involvement in financing the coal mining and coal energy sector was significantly lower than the average for the banking sector. In 2019, the Bank formalized its approach to the climate issue and developed the “Bank Millennium Group Environmental Policy”. The Document defines three key areas of environmentally-minded activity: own environmental activities aimed at reducing consumption of materials, electricity, water and fuel; approach to financing investments and environmental education of clients, counterparties and employees.

In reference to the Policy, the Bank regularly monitors consumption of electricity, water, fuels, office supplies and undertakes actions to reduce usage of resources. In its lending regulations the Bank introduced restrictions regarding financing of activities, which harm the environment. The Bank’s offering now includes environmentally-minded products for example the WWF Credit Card, part of the proceeds from which is given to the WWF Polska Foundation or Eko Energia Lease, which supports projects to acquire energy-efficient machines and equipment. The Bank also organises environmental education actions for employees. “Bank Millennium Group Environmental Policy” is a general document, which defines commitment of the Group to climate protection and in the future will be expanded to include further matters.

Since 2011 the Group has been reporting on its environmental impact, including disclosure of data regarding Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. As regards Scope 3 the Group is working on analysis of existing methodologies and possibility of defining a methodology to allow accurate reporting on data about indirect emissions. It broadens knowledge about this by taking part in conferences and expert workshops (organised e.g. by Stowarzyszenie Emitentów Giełdowych /Stock Exchange Issuers Association/and WISE Europa) and participates in the work of the Polish Bank Association.