Sustainable Banking Network Announces New Member
an entrepreneur, and Integral customer
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a network of the world’s leading sustainable banks, announces a new member today. SAC Apoyo Integral, S.A (Integral - www.integral.com.sv), a microfinance institution from El Salvador, is the fourteenth member of the expanding network which aims to build a progressive new approach to finance.
Announcing Integral’s membership, Global Alliance for Banking on Values Chair and Triodos Bank CEO, Peter Blom, said; “At a time when the conventional financial industry continues to struggle to reinvent itself, sustainable banking offers a positive, credible approach. Our network’s members are front-runners in this industry and we are delighted to welcome Integral as an excellent addition to this group.
Sustainable banks in our network are solid, independent and profitable organisations delivering long term benefits for people and the environment. They are grounded in their communities, working in the real economy to offer transparent, inclusive financial services for a wide range of customers. And they can play a crucial role in the transition to a more sustainable economy.”
Integral, who finance close to 50,000 micro-entrepreneurs, join sustainable banks that have become a reference point for the sustainable banking industry around the world. Integral joins Bolivia’s BancoSol, and Mibanco as existing South American members of the network.
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values aims to touch the lives of a billion people with sustainable banking by 2020. It recently announced a $200,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to support its financial capital raising work.
Visit www.gabv.org for more.
Notes to Editors
For interviews, and supporting film and photography, please contact James Niven on +31 30 694 2421, mobile +31 (0)6 539 08150 or e-mail james.niven@gabv.org.
About the Global Alliance for Banking on Values
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) is a membership organization, made up of fourteen of the world's leading sustainable banks, from Asia and Latin America to the US and Europe. They are bound by a shared commitment to find global solutions to international problems - and to promote a positive, viable alternative to the current financial system. These organizations believe that we must improve the quality of life for everyone on the planet, recognizing that we are economically interdependent and responsible to current and future generations.
Founded in 2009, the network’s members have to meet three criteria:
- they are independent and licensed banks with a focus on retail customers
- with a minimum balance sheet of $50 million;
- and, most significantly, they should be committed to social banking and the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit