Financial inclusion

Societe Generale has implemented several concrete actions to ensure inclusive and equitable access to it products and services. These actions include educational campaigns, support for financial education and workplace onboarding, as well as support for microfinance schemes.

Educational actions, financial education and workplace integration

Societe Generale supports financial education, which helps to prevent financial exclusion. These initiatives are supported by the Group’s subsidiaries as well as by the Societe Generale Foundation.

In recent years, SG, the Group’s French retail banking arm, has launched a number of financial education initiatives. Within the framework of the “Le 5’ des experts” video programme, a member of staff spends five minutes answering questions on issues such as credit, savings and insurance. Since the launch, 200 educational videos have been published on clients’ websites. Also accessible without authentication from the SG App and the website for individual clients, the “Les clés de l’épargne” online space helps customers understand notions associated with the management of their savings depending on their degree of knowledge. Furthermore, in 2024, Societe Generale also offered schemes to support its clients in their digital transition, via workshops and conferences led by experts during the “Nantes Digital Week” festival or its “Journées SG - B@nque à distance” to enhance clients’ skills with regard to managing their online accounts. In terms of professional integration, since 2021, Societe Generale has participated in the “1 Jeune 1 Solution” government programme to connect young job seekers with companies that are recruiting around the country.

Via its Boursorama.com information portal, BoursoBank provides its customers with training courses to acquire the fundamentals of financial education. This system, called Bourso Campus, comprises a set of educational videos sequenced in three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced) with tests to validate the knowledge acquired at the end of each module. The Boursorama.com site also makes a broad range of financial information content available to internet users, and now offers an analysis of the environmental, social and governance impacts of almost 4,000 companies, allowing investors to take this information into account when choosing their investments. 

In the countries where the Group operates, philanthropic actions provide support for public-interest structures and organisations with projects in the fields of education, culture and the environment. In terms of education, these actions are aimed in particular at young people through financial education, education through sport and culture, and professional integration, particularly in the fields of ecological transition and digital technology. The Societe Generale Foundation works alongside the Crésus association, whose mission is to combat financial exclusion and prevent over-indebtedness. The association also plays a role in budget education by developing teaching tools that make it easier to understand budget management issues. Crésus is continuing to roll out the Dilemme budget education programme, which aims to teach budget education in a fun way. Since its launch in 2013, 3,700 ambassadors, including Societe Generale group employees, have been trained in how to run Dilemme workshops, thus reaching more than 600,000 beneficiaries*, whilst 100,000 young adults* have been trained thanks to the support provided by the Societe Generale Foundation over the last decade or so.

_{*Figures as of 31/12/2024}

Supporting microfinance

Societe Generale supports microfinance. This activity offers a range of financial services (primarily loans, savings, insurance and money transfers) intended for entrepreneurs or businesses with limited resources or limited access to traditional banking institutions.

Since 2006, Societe Generale has chosen to support microfinance via a partnership with ADIE (a non-profit promoting the right to economic initiative) in both mainland France and overseas French territories. Outstanding loans with ADIE totalled EUR 41 million at the end of 2024, compared with EUR 36 million at end-2023.

In Africa, Societe Generale has been supporting the development of microfinance for almost 20 years, meeting the specific requirements of local populations and very small enterprises (VSEs) with no access to traditional banking services. In 2024, Societe Generale continued to support this sector by financing its African network’s client institutions in local currency over the short or medium term. The Group still has a seat at the table of institutions it helped create in the 2000s and which are now key players on their respective markets.