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Banking & FinTech As A Force For Good

“Every organisation must not only deliver financial performance but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society”.

 

Larry Fink - Chairman and CEO Blackrock, 2018.

The financial services sector is one of Australia’s largest financial service providers and employer groups. Almost all Australians are either a customer or an employee of an ADI. 

 

Given their wide reach, ADIs and FinTechs have the ability to solve some of the major social issues currently afflicting Australian society. These include: 

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  • financial exclusion

  • Australia’s aging workforce; 

  • domestic violence; 

  • substance abuse;  

  • mental health, among others 

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In Gen Advisory’s view, ADIs should tackle such social issues, not just for altruistic reasons, but also for financial. Evidence suggests that organizations that attempt to make a positive contribution to society often end up “doing well by doing good”. 

Our Analysis

Financial Exclusion
Ageing Workforce
Mental Health
Domestic Violence
Substance Abuse

1 in 5 Australian adults - i.e. over 3.3 million Australians - is "financially excluded". 

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Over 2 million Australians experience "high-to-severe financial stress".

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The top 20% of wealth-holders have 70 times more than those in the bottom 20%.

ln 2017, there were 3.8 million Australians aged 65 and above. 

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4 out of 10 Australian organizations admit that they will not employ people over 65. 

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Older workers provide an average net profit of A$1,956 oper year to their employers compared to other employees. 

Approximately 1 in 4 Australian women and 1 in 13 men have experienced domestic violence. 

 

2.2 million Australians have experienced physical/sexual violence from a partner, and 3,6 million have experienced emotional abuse.

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In 2008-9, the total cost to the Australian economy of all violence against women and their children was estimated at AS13.6 billion.

Over 3 million Australians are living with depression or anxiety.

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In 2015, 3,027 Australians died by suicide - a steady increase over the preceding decade.

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Although attitudes are improving, mental health stigma and discrimination is still a significant issue in many Australian workplaces.

Over 3 million Australians use illegal drugs on a regular basis.

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Over 40% of Australians aged 14 and above have experimented with illegal drugs.

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Drug abuse has been estimated to cost the Australian economy A$425 million per year in lost productivity.

How we can help ADIs "do well by doing good"

“ 'We thought we were doing good, and it ended up being good for our business'. That's something I'm hearing a lot .”

 

Conny Lenneberg - Executive Director,

Brotherhood of Saint Lawrence.

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  • Provide strategic advice to ADI Boards on what are the most pressing social issues currently being faced by Australian society - of which the ADI's customers and employees form a large part.

  • Provide strategic advice to ADI Boards on what they can do to help.

  • Providing strategic advice to ADI Boards on the benefits and opportunities which can arise from serving as a "force for good".

  • Deliver bespoke research on a specific social issue or problem, together with recommended solutions. 

  • Deliver bespoke training on how ADIs can "do well by doing good".

  • Manage and execute, on an ADI’s behalf, an end-to-end project to combat one or more of the social issues identified above.

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