Banco Caja Social, a Grupo Social Foundation company, was recognized yesterday in Washington with the WSBI-ESBG 2025 SDG Award, an international award that highlights financial institutions that promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The bank obtained this award in the Economic Growth and Empowerment category, a recognition that highlights its commitment to sustainable development, financial inclusion and the generation of opportunities for families and entrepreneurs in Colombia.
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The award was granted by the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute – European Savings and Retail Banking Group (WSBI-ESBG), the world’s oldest global network bringing together members on five continents, together representing more than 6,400 financial institutions in more than 80 countries and that works to promote responsible finance, international cooperation and access to inclusive banking services.
The award ceremony was held at a meeting that brought together retail banking leaders, public policy makers and multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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“Receiving the award is a recognition that genuinely inspires us to continue working with commitment and responsibility for the well-being of Colombians. This recognition ratifies our higher purpose of Serving with a capital ‘S’, which is reflected in accompanying people, homes and businesses. in building your progress.
We are convinced that finances must be a driver of opportunities, inclusion and social development. This award confirms that we are moving in the right direction: be a testimony of a different bank that is closer and more humane, that remains faithful to its ultimate purpose“said Diego Fernando Prieto Rivera, president of Banco Caja Social and regional president of the WSBI for America and the Caribbean.
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In addition to public recognition, Banco Caja Social will be included in the next edition of the WSBI-ESBG SDG Report and will have the opportunity to make its initiatives visible on the organization’s global platforms, which reinforces its role as a regional reference in the construction of an inclusive, solid and sustainable financial system.
Banco Caja Social has been in the market for almost 115 years.
Prieto said that Banco Caja Social has 2.4 million clients and of them 500,000 are micro and small entrepreneurs.
The total microcredit portfolio is 4.1 billion. 120,000 receive productive loans, that is, 28%, 7% in commercial credit, 2% in credit cards, and 42,300 in housing. The bank’s total portfolio as of August was $24.5 billion, which has grown 11%.
He assured that the overdue portfolio a year ago was 7.19% and last August it was 5.46%. The risk was 8.85% a year ago and today it is 7.38%. For its part, portfolio provisions have decreased 22.6% compared to August 2024, which is why he assured that the recovery is evident.
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He also assured that the figures on the Credit Pact, to irrigate “financing to key sectors of the economy, is a positive reality where issues such as focuses in the popular economy are important and the bank has been a relevant actor. But there are internal and external factors that have generated dynamics that are not in line with developing the country’s potential.“He concluded by saying that investment goes hand in hand with certainty or uncertainty and this has been affected.
HOLMAN RODRIGUEZ
