ABN AMRO for gender equality

As a bank with a social mission, we promote gender equality in many ways. We do this out of a strong belief not only that everyone deserves equal opportunities, but also that gender equality benefits everyone: women, men, families and the economy overall.

8 March: International Women’s Day

This day is all about celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness of unconscious bias and taking action to promote equality. The theme for 2021 is ‘Choose to Challenge’.

Encouraging the worldwide movement

ABN AMRO became a signatory of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) one year ago. “ABN AMRO has been promoting equal rights for men and women for years,” explains CEO Robert Swaak. “Signing the WEP represents a major commitment to strengthening the position of women in our bank, in the market we operate in, and in society as a whole. It means looking at every part of the bank and identifying ways to help ensure women have full status and equality. And we encourage other organisations to throw their weight behind this important issue too. I firmly believe that the financial sector should play a leading role in this.”

Banking through a gender lens

The bank recently introduced ‘Banking through a gender lens’, a holistic approach for the entire bank to better support female clients and employees and also attract more female clients. For instance, we should give more specific consideration to our female clients’ preferences for their investments. Another point is that studies show that female business owners are still much less likely to obtain loans than their male counterparts, as a result of mutual unconscious bias and other factors. We want to address this. Our goal of takinga more personal approach in a digital age includes listening more closely to the needs of female business owners, and our female clients in general.

These activities are not limited to the Netherlands. Just last week Neuflize OBC, ABN AMRO’s private banking division in France, announced that it had completed a study begun in 2017 to map out issues that female business owners commonly face. The findings, which were published recently, also reveal ways to improve: mentorships and special financing solutions. Neuflize OBC is working on a programme aimed specifically at female business owners, which will include a mentorship programme and financing products based on ESG criteria. 

Making a world of difference

We are also proud of the progress that we have already made. Last year, for example, the bank launched its first gender campaign to make women more aware of their current and future finances. The bank also talked to trade unions, NGOs and clients to establish ways to better safeguard gender in the bank’s lending policy. Job vacancies were made gender-neutral – and now attract more female applicants – and some time ago the bank started sponsoring Ajax’s women’s football teams. ABN AMRO has also initiated ‘Time to Catch Up’: aprogramme launched in close partnership with the Dutch field hockey association to promote equal opportunities for women in hockey.

Read the interview with Nicole Bottger and Marianne Verhaar to find out more (from page 22) - in Dutch only