Knowledge Sharing
Exchanging a vast stock of know-how, experience, best practice
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>> WSBI regional groups
Our focus.
WSBI-ESBG holds a vast stock of
savings and retail banking knowledge. When that knowledge is exchanged among WSBI-ESBG members, it helps strategic focus areas of 21st century banking: innovation, sustainable finance, financial inclusion and a
proportionate approach to banking rules.
Enabling financial inclusion around the world
Banks build innovative, secure and reliable services to enable the customer financial journey
and build long-lasting relationships with them. To do this, banks invest heavily in
innovation, taking a digital path while keeping a human touch. They reap opportunities from FinTech while meeting client needs, security and expectations. WSBI-ESBG brings together savings and retail banks with innovation frontrunners.
Its experts work on several digital workstreams, standing for policy that fuels innovation through a level-playing field and keeps in view customer protection.
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Moving towards sustainable finance
Sustainable finance supports economic growth while reducing pressures on the environment. It tackles pollution and lowering greenhouse gas emissions by nourishing an economy that minimises waste and maximises efficiency of natural resources. Providing finance to stear investments takes into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) thinking.
While addressing ESG, the savings and retail banking model helps expand economies and jobs as it finances SMEs – a main EU growth engine. ESBG member banks also play a role in opening their network to everyone, and help to educate citizens in the region in which they operate.
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Banking legislation: striking the right balance
A propoponent of the proportionality principle, WSBI sees it as an instrument that achieves the right balance
between objectives pursued by legislation and methods used to achieve them.
Proportionality provides a needed balance to prevent the financial system and its regulatory framework
from creating disproportionate obligations to banks that do not adjust to the standards
of size, complexity, business model, and cross-border activity.
When applied properly, a proportionate approach creates an evironment to boost innovation,
unleash sustainable finance as well as widen finanical inclusion through savings and retail banks.
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How we exchange.
Advocacy
WSBI-ESBG advocates with leaders and key decisionmakers across relevant international bodies.
The associations have relationships built up with many international bodies, including: the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, OECD,
EU institutions, Basel Committee, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the InterAmerican Development Bank. Focused meetings arranged with them support members’ business models. When appropriate, members may also participate directly in these meetings with WSBI-ESBG.
WSBI-ESBG members form separately "closed" groups to address major regulatory or technical topics and create forums for best practice exchange with peers. These may be committees, task forces, networks or regional groups.
>> WSBI-ESBG policy positions
>> WSBI-ESBG Charter for Responsible Business
Communications, Events, Regional Groups
A dedicated in-house team plan and execute on communications and events-related work.
Their work reaches an international audience of policymakers and stakeholders through the association website, newsletters, publications and social media platforms such as
LinkedIn and
Twitter.
Events hosted and organised by WSBI-ESBG and a WSBI member include statutory events, conferences and seminars. Those events take place either via webstream or in person in some 80 countries where WSBI-ESBG members reside.
Knowledge sharing occurs within regional groups to boost members' business development efforts.
>> WSBI Regional Groups |>> Events |>> Publications
Consultancy and Training
Consultancy and Training services from WSBI-ESBG help better transfer knowledge and experience to retail banks and banking sectors worldwide. Special focus is placed on financial inclusion.
For more than two decades, WSBI has developed into a leading provider in financial sector development project work in more than 70 countries with industry leading consultants from close to 50 countries.
Capacity building is an important part of WSBI training and consultancy.
We help banks impove product design, strategy as well as skills development. Services are provided in various areas of expertise to savings and retail banking sectors, regulated microfinance institutions, central banks and regulatory authorities, and multilateral institutions.
>> Scale2Save | >> WSBI training programmes
>> WSBI Doubling Savings Account programme | Final report in English | French | Spanish
Intelligence
Members access documentation produced by WSBI-ESBG, including white papers, positions and roadmaps. These are delivered to them via the WSBI-ESBG website, an Extranet, an on-line community, regular distribution of ‘Infoflashes’ and newsletters. Expert input is also available via discussions that take place at regional group meetings, conferences and workshops Examples of topics covered include:
Digitization and innovation
Business model change
Corporate social responsibility and sustainable banking
Financial inclusion
Real economy financing
Anti-money laundering / counter terrorist financing
WSBI-ESBG monitor reports, studies and blogs from a range of policymakers, industry players and experts. It maps members’ concerns via regional group meetings and working groups and employs knowledge mapping tools and analytics.
WSBI Advisory Services
Consultancy and training services are offered for an extra fee to WSBI and ESBG members and other retail banking institutionsvia
WSBI Advisory Services, a company established in 2016 by WSBI and partners CaixaBank of Spain and Germany’s Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation with the aim of improving retail banking worldwide.
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