Press Release

Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine has caused the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War with millions fleeing their country. At the same time, it has triggered various actions and reactions from the European Commission and EU regulators that heavily affect banks.
ESBG members have raised to the challenges that the crisis in Ukraine has created. On one hand, they are sharing knowledge and best practices in a coordinated way to tackle the challenges as they raise. On the other, European savings and retail banks have reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility with direct actions and initiatives to support people in need.

Overtime for Ukrainian war refugees: DSGV employees donate over 100,000 euros through extra work

Employees of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV) have so far collected more than €100,000 for Ukrainian war refugees. The proud sum was raised because employees donated part of their overtime. The DSGV converted the overtime donation into a corresponding cash donation.
With the overtime donation, DSGV supports various projects that benefit war refugees from Ukraine, including “Arrival Support Berlin”, “Support for Ukrainian Refugees in Moldova”, “Ukraine-Hilfe Lobetal” and the Ukraine aid of “wildtierrettung.de”. The initiatives have in common that they make it easier for people to arrive in Germany and thus make an important contribution in a difficult life situation.

Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine has caused the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War with millions fleeing their country. At the same time, it has triggered various actions and reactions from the European Commission and EU regulators that heavily affect banks.
ESBG members have raised to the challenges that the crisis in Ukraine has created. On one hand, they are sharing knowledge and best practices in a coordinated way to tackle the challenges as they raise. On the other, European savings and retail banks have reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility with direct actions and initiatives to support people in need.

Erste Bank Group (Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia): Together with its subsidiary banks and ERSTE Foundation, Erste Group has been implementing a comprehensive package of humanitarian support measures for Ukrainians. For instance, since Monday 14 March 2022, the Caritas Day Centre at Erste Campus in Vienna has been welcoming Ukrainians in need from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. – seven days a week. People on the move also have access to WiFi and quiet zones. A children’s play corner is also provided for the little ones thanks to SOS Children’s Village. In addition, all payments from Erste Group accounts to Ukraine are free of charge, with any fees incurred being refunded after the transfer to facilitate private aid payments and donations to organizations. Erste Group’s subsidiary banks offer access to free accounts for Ukrainian refugees to facilitate money transfers. Moreover, Erste Group will support its partner organizations Caritas and the International Red Cross with donations of one million euros each. In addition, the Romanian subsidiary bank BCR donated a total of 100,000 euros to Save the Children, the Red Cross, and Romanian government initiatives

Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine has caused the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War with millions fleeing their country. At the same time, it has triggered various actions and reactions from the European Commission and EU regulators that heavily affect banks.
ESBG members have raised to the challenges that the crisis in Ukraine has created. On one hand, they are sharing knowledge and best practices in a coordinated way to tackle the challenges as they raise. On the other, European savings and retail banks have reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility with direct actions and initiatives to support people in need.

DSVG (Germany): As of 27 April 2022, the German Savings Banks Association had provided Ukrainian refugees with more than 136.000 bank accounts. Refugees can easily apply online for a GiroExpress account with their ID thanks to a simplified procedure. Moreover, DSGV is providing all relevant information on bank accounts in Ukrainian and is working on extending the service to online banking, its platform for job seekers, etc. DSVG is also supporting the initiative #UnterkunftUkraine (Accommodation Ukraine) which connects volunteers with refugees looking for temporary accommodation. By the end of April, the initiative offered temporary accommodation to 24,000 people in 150 German cities, offering almost 370,000 beds, which makes #UnterkunftUkraine currently the platform with the most bed offers.

Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine has caused the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War with millions fleeing their country. At the same time, it has triggered various actions and reactions from the European Commission and EU regulators that heavily affect banks.
ESBG members have raised to the challenges that the crisis in Ukraine has created. On one hand, they are sharing knowledge and best practices in a coordinated way to tackle the challenges as they raise. On the other, European savings and retail banks have reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility with direct actions and initiatives to support people in need.

CaixaBank (Spain): Since late February, CaixaBank has been leveraging its network of branches in Spain to assist asylum seekers and refugees fleeing Ukraine. Ukrainian refugees in Spain are eligible for several free services, regardless of which bank they use. Since the early stages of the emergency, CaixaBank set up interpretation and translation services to make it easy for newly arrived people from Ukraine to sign up for basic financial services. As other customers in vulnerable situations do, Ukrainians can open a Social Account at CaixaBank, which includes a checking account, a bank card, and access to online banking free of charge. Moreover, customers of Ukrainian banks are allowed to use CaixaBank’s entire network of ATMs in Spain for free.

Since early March, CaixaBank has been offering free money transfers to Ukraine and neighboring countries, where Ukrainian civilians seek refuge: Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland.
Among the wide range of measures to facilitate aid to the Ukrainian people, CaixaBank collaborated with the CaixaBank Volunteers Association, with more than 5,000 members spread throughout Spain, to mobilize a convoy of buses to the Polish-Ukrainian border and help evacuate people wishing to request asylum in Spain. A total of 204 Ukrainians, mostly young women, and children, have already arrived in Spain thanks to this initiative, and a second convoy was scheduled for the end of April.

Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine has caused the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War with millions fleeing their country. At the same time, it has triggered various actions and reactions from the European Commission and EU regulators that heavily affect banks.
ESBG members have raised to the challenges that the crisis in Ukraine has created. On one hand, they are sharing knowledge and best practices in a coordinated way to tackle the challenges as they raise. On the other, European savings and retail banks have reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility with direct actions and initiatives to support people in need.

Associazione di Fondazioni e di Casse di Risparmio (ACRI) (Italy): On 7 March, ACRI allocated an extraordinary contribution of 2 million euros to support the activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) assisting Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country.