Sustainability Loan: credit for sustainability investments by SMEs

For small and medium-sized enterprises that invest in improving their sustainability profiles, Intesa Sanpaolo has developed several solutions that include:

• the S-Loan (Sustainability Loan), an innovative programme that can be combined with some loans, designed to support companies in achieving their ESG objectives
• the S-Loan Progetti Green, the new medium- to long-term financing product dedicated to green transition investments.

S-Loans feature a twofold bonus mechanism that provides the company with an immediate benefit at the application stage for committing to specific targets (KPIs) in the ESG (environmental, social and governance) arena and a further benefit upon reporting that it has achieved these targets.

Since the launch of the first S-Loan ESG in 2020, Intesa Sanpaolo has diversified its range in terms of both new KPIs dedicated to customer targets and new associated products.

Three types of S-Loans are currently available: S-Loan ESG, S-Loan Diversity and S-Loan CER (Renewable Energy Community).

Intesa Sanpaolo’s S-Loans:

S-Loan ESG 

S-Loan ESG, with six KPIs for the 360° improvement of sustainability performances regarding: the procurement of renewable energy or bioenergy and the introduction of a procurement policy that takes account of Environmental considerations; activities to support the community organised on the basis of a multi-year programme and the development of programmes to engage customers and/or suppliers in sustainability issues, for the Social area; training activities for employees on environmental/social sustainability and the development of welfare programmes to improve the well-being of employees, for the Governance area.

S-Loan Diversity

S-Loan Diversity, with four different KPIs for promoting gender equality and the role of women in the socioe conomic context: promotion and launch of initiatives and good practices for facilitating and improving female participation in the community; launch of initiatives to drive up female employment rates in companies; definition and implementation of internal policies designed to guarantee gender equality in the business context; introduction of corporate welfare programmes for female employees which promote equal opportunities.

S-Loan CER

S-Loan CER, with two KPIs for companies that want to invest in projects to improve energy self-sufficiency by building renewable energy plants and sharing self-produced energy in a Renewable Energy Community.

Moreover, in relation to the type of financing combined, the selected S-Loan solution can be associated with the main government guarantees: Guarantee Fund, SACE Guarantee Italy and SACE Green Guarantee.

S-Loan Progetti Green

The S-Loan Progetti Green is a financing product that since 1 February 2024 has been available to all companies that engage in investments and projects that generate a positive environmental impact on processes, products and technologies. It allows financing of up to 100% of the costs (VAT excluded), with maturities of up to 20 years, and is characterised by dedicated conditions and the possibility of an additional benefit on the contractual rate upon reporting that the investment has been completed on schedule.

Like the S-Loan, the S-Loan Progetti Green financing product features a twofold bonus mechanism. In contrast to the S-Loan, the company can obtain an immediate benefit at the application stage by committing to complete the project by a specific date; the additional benefit will then depend on the company reporting completion of the financed project by the established deadline.