A snapshot of the last 18 months shows how UniCredit is still part of the solution and close to its customers, colleagues and communities. Our Bank is always there to support and close to its stakeholders even in the restart phase.

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Time for holidays and some rest. The lucky oneswill enjoya few trips despite the necessary Covid tests, green passes and face masks in their suitcase, in the hope of leaving the past season behind and breathing (it has to be said) a little bit of normality. However, there will also be many people who will not be leaving for economic, health or seasonal working reasons.

 

A great diversity of conditions and situations with a common factor: the pandemic.

Banks do so much more than keep the wheels of society turning. They provide opportunities.

Andrea Orcel - CEO UniCredit

Thinking about the positives in the midst of a health crisis is quite a paradox but there were positive side effects.One of which was the rapid deployment of effective measures in so many different areas: Digitalisation, science, research and economic recovery plans just to name a few. Even banks have changed their patterns and contributed to the change of pace imposed by the quarantine. 

We are not going to recommend some holiday books, yet the following pages (link) could prove to be an interesting read: UniCredit has published a great and positive summary of how, all our Group’s banks committed to being part of the solution, supporting customers, communities and local economies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In just 18 months, a lot was achieved:

Remote working, a boost in the use of internet banking, but also mortgage and loan interest suspension, and initiatives to help schools.

UniCredit continued to help its clients, including the Republic of Austria, the German Land of Bavaria, the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Investment Bank, to access capital markets. UniCredit supported the Italian Ministry of Finance with a record issue of BTPs to help the country.

We provided moratoriums on loans worth EUR 34.8 billion and granted EUR 20.8 billion in state-guaranteed loans. Given the circumstances, speed was of the essence and in fact 1,600 UniCredit employees worked over the weekend to process the first 100,000 applications.

In order to respond to the emergency brought by the Pandemic, UniCredit made quick decisions to safeguard and care for its employees, enabling them to work safely and effectively from a distance.

In October 2020, the Joint Declaration on Remote Working was signed with the European Works Council. This document aims to develop a global approach to provide all our colleagues with access to remote working in the future.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, UniCredit has always been close to the communities in which it operates. A strong social commitment to the prevention of the virus was shown, supporting those in need. UniCredit Group’s banks have so far made substantial donations to support hospitals, charities, scientific research and governments, thus contributing to the fight against the pandemic and demonstrating the dedication of its employees to their communities in different markets.