Banks’ ESG Efforts Can Boost Sales—Assuming Consumers Know

As consumers have become more attuned to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, those concerns have gradually filtered into consumers’ perceptions of their bank. In Europe, for example, there’s a strong correlation between respondents’ agreement that their bank addresses ESG challenges and the share of banking products that consumers purchased there, according to a new survey of 55,800 customers by Bain & Company, conducted with Dynata. A strong ESG position, in other words, can earn greater loyalty. Yet a significant share of respondents are unaware of their bank’s ESG initiatives, or have a neutral stance toward them. Some banks might not clearly communicate their ESG efforts; others have only a vague ESG ambition that cannot be articulated; still others have not integrated their vision into the core business. In the latter case, banks must translate the ambition into their products and services, and track indicators that show progress along the ESG themes.