Loans and services for the Green Economy

The Bank supports the green projects of Retail customers through the grantin of loans and mortgages for environmental purposes. 

The new Business Plan provides a further boost to sustainable credit for retail customers with special emphasis on the ecological transition, making 12 billion euro of green loans available to individuals. 

The financing solutions are not only aimed at those who want to purchase or build an energy efficient property but also at those who want to improve their energy efficiency through energy-saving measures such as, for example, the replacement of fixtures and high-performance boilers, the renovation of buildings from an energy efficiency perspective, the purchase of  environmentally-friendly vehicles and the installation of solar and photovoltaic panels.

The Bank continued to provide loans and mortgages for environmental purposes to retail customers in 2023.

The Bank proposes Green - Mutuo Domus: a subsidised mortgage which makes it possible to purchase and build a residential property in Italy with a high energy class (equal to or higher than B) or to renovate a residential property in Italy improving its energy performance rating by at least one class. In 2023, about 12,100 green mortgages of a total value of about 1.7 billion euro were issued.

Intesa Sanpaolo participates in the EeMAP (Energy efficient Mortgages Action Plan) project, a European initiative that aims to create standardised European energy efficient mortgages with a view to encouraging the dedevelopment of buildings and the purchase of energy efficient properties thanks to preferential financial conditions. 

The range of green solutions has been enriched with a series of dedicated services, some of which are provided by partner companies. These additional and optional services help to assess the possible savings that can be made through energy redevelopment measures, for example.

In accordance with the regulatory context defined by the EU 2020/852 Regulation on the European Taxonomy, Intesa Sanpaolo has carried out a series of activities to obtain information on the energy performance of buildings in order to guarantee mortgage applications.

Among the insurance products that aim to cover customers' insurance needs in the Family, Health and Property areas, the XME Protezione insurance policy focuses on protection against natural disasters, providing coverage for the damage caused by atmospheric events such as floods and cloudbursts. The coverage will reimburse up to 80% of the customer's property value. As at December 2023, over 470,000 XME Protezione policies with flood and earthquake cover had been taken out. In the area of motor insurance products, the ViaggiaConMe policy with consumption-based plan involves a premium linked to the number of kilometres travelled during the year: once the defined threshold has been exceeded, the premium to be paid will be integrated based on the additional kilometres travelled. The proposed solution therefore discourages the use of vehicles, with potential positive impacts on the environment. 

Intesa Sanpaolo has continued to support non-profit companies that wish to invest in energy efficiency projects with solutions that make it possible to save on energy costs and increase the overall sustainability of the company's activity.

To support small and medium-sized enterprises that aim to improve their sustainability profile and with the goal of assisting them on a path of structural change, associating their economic and financial decisions with their environmental and social impacts, Intesa Sanpaolo has launched the ESG-Linked S-Loan. This loan involves the sharing of sustainability performance improvement goals by businesses, through precise commitments undertaken with the Bank via specific KPIs subject to annual monitoring, certified by the businesses in the notes to their financial statements, and rewards in the shape of special conditions, with rate reductions awarded to businesses that meet their fixed goals. The product is activated through the signing of a covenant based on the choice of two KPIs from a wide selection of possible initiatives. In 2023, 37.2% of businesses chose an Environment KPI.

In 2023, around 1,100 projects with an overall value of approximately 1.7 billion euro were funded.

Corporations interested in improving their ESG profile can choose from five different products on the basis of their sustainable development goals. In particular:

• 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, with four different KPIs for promoting gender equality and the role of women in the socioeconomic 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
• S-Loan Climate Change, which offers six KPIs for developing the company business in an environmentally- friendly way, investing in projects designed to combat climate change and reduce the company’s emissions. The new KPIs regard the procurement of renewable energy, the introduction of “Green Procurement Policies”, the achievement of Carbon Neutrality
• S-Loan Agribusiness, which includes six KPIs for joint-stock companies in the sector interested in protecting themselves against the risks of climate change and in taking advantage of the opportunities that derive from the adoption of more sustainable business models
• S-Loan Turismo, based on six KPIs for joint-stock companies in the tourism sector, such as the purchase of electricity from renewable sources or bioenergy, the reduction of energy consumption.
• S-Loan CER, a new loan facility, launched in 2023, which Intesa Sanpaolo makes available to businesses that decide to invest in renewable energies: the mechanism involves an incentive in the form of a subsidised interest rate, with an additional reward granted if the business allocates part of the energy produced and not self-consumed to the Renewable Energy Community (CER).

These loans contributed to raising funds via the Intesa Sanpaolo crowdfunding platform For Funding, which identifies charity projects to support with donations connected with the sale of sustainable products (including S-Loans), encouraging the same companies to make donations in turn.

Solutions for professionals and businesses pursuing investment plans in the energy sector include the Energia Impresa loan, available since late 2020.

One distinctive feature of the business solutions is the support of MLT/Leasing Specialists who evaluate the technical/financial aspects of the investment and its relative sustainability, also requesting the assistance of the Energy & Utilities Desk, where necessary, in the project origination phase, in the structuring of the loan, in the technical due diligence phase, which is preceded by an appraisal - usually performed by an external consultant specifically appointed according to the regulations in force - to support the Bank’s credit assessment, and in the formulation of the final opinion on the technical, economic and financial sustainability of the project. The Energy & Utilities Desk, composed of a team of professionals from the sector, provides assistance for entrepreneurs who have planned investments in renewable energies or who intend to diversify their energy sources, assessing their projects from a technical and business perspective and evaluating the financial sustainability of the investment: a comprehensive service that ranges from credit consultancy on risk assessment and the structuring of the most suitable financial solutions, to advice on new market opportunities, incentivising support measures (including those of the NRRP) and technology trends as enablers of the energy transition (e.g. investments in the production of energy from renewable sources, in energy efficiency, in the production of biomethane and hydrogen - green and blue -, in the distribution of methane gas, in the integrated water service and in the treatment of solid urban waste).

The IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division (IMI CIB) continues to pursue its commitment to sustainability, promoting innovative financial solutions that respond to the growing need for products more in line with ESG criteria.

To this end, in 2023 an advisory team was set up at IMI Corporate & Investment Banking to support the Division’s customers in sustainable finance operations and oversee all connected activities.

The financial offer includes the main ESG solutions: sustainability-linked solutions and solutions with income linked to specific investments, which make it possible, depending on the circumstances, to use the circular framework or green framework of the Bank’s dedicated circular economy credit plafond.
In particular, in terms of sustainability-linked solutions, in 2022 the Group supported its customers with loans, bonds, guarantees, Social and Sustainability-linked bonds, as well as Project Finance dedicated to the world of renewable energy (wind, photovoltaic, biomass, hydroelectric).

During the year, the Division participated in numerous green, circular and sustainability-linked loan transactions (bilateral and syndicated); it also acted as Joint Lead Manager for the issuing of the first Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) Green bond of a total value of 500 million euro and reserved for institutional investors. IMI Corporate & Investment Banking was also appointed by BFF Bank S.p.A. to structure the Social Bond Framework and the EMTN (Euro Medium Term Notes) Programme for issues aimed at institutional customers.

The IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division manages relations with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and in 2023 acted as fronting bank for the modernisation of 178 km of the Palermo – Catania railway line, which will make it possible to reduce current journey times by a third with important repercussions for the economic, social and sustainable development of Sicily. The project forms part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Intesa Sanpaolo has allocated a notional 1 billion euro to the project; the EIB counter security is backed by InvestEU and amounts to 50% of the loans offered in the form of bonds to support the constructors that win the tenders issued by Ferrovie dello Stato.