The National Bank adopts a different approach to social responsibility. This responsibility is not limited to donating a percentage of our net profits to support specific sectors of society but is rather rooted in the core of our business and many policies. It is a comprehensive approach that serves society across its various sectors. This complementary responsibility demonstrates TNB’s commitment to supporting the national economy and improving the lives of Palestinians. In addition, TNB focuses on preserving the environment by implementing policies that support sustainable development and reducing its activities’ environmental impact.
TNB’s social contributions, according to its financial statements, amounted to US$420,000 in 2023, for the following sectors:
Our sustainable projects
Environment preservation and national energy independence
In a step that is the first of its kind among banks in Palestine, The National Bank purchased a share in the “Noor Jericho” solar power station, owned by Masdar Company of the Palestine Investment Fund, to cover the energy needs of its branches and departments which get their service from the Jerusalem District Electricity Company. This investment is an environmental, national and social step, especially since Palestine is a country where the sun shines throughout the year. The use of renewable energy sources will play an effective role and provide a solution for Palestinian energy to become independent from Israel, while preserving the environment in a sustainable manner and using natural sources without causing any harm.
For four years now, The National Bank has been making efforts to ensure climate protection, environment conservation, and spread sustainable practices in society on best corporate governance practices (ESG) to achieve sustainability in its business.
Economic empowerment of Palestinian women
For the seventh year in a row, the empowerment of Palestinian women was an important area and a main pillar in TNB’s social responsibility program. TNB allocated part of its community contributions to focus on empowering Palestinian women and promoting their financial inclusion. It launched the “Hayati” program, which aims at empowering women economically. TNB also provided US$3.5 million of interest-free productive loans to Palestinian women entrepreneurs. Success stories of these projects and the women entrepreneurs who lead them highlight the achievements on the ground. TNB seeks to empower women by facilitating their access to financing for entrepreneurial projects and giving them additional privileges to be creative. Such projects can achieve sustainable development by ensuring women’s economic empowerment and financial independence. This provides a stable monthly income for them and their families, creates new job opportunities in the Palestinians labor market and reduces unemployment. The majority of the workforce in these projects are usually women, thus increasing job opportunities for women in particular. These projects would also promote internal trade between the projects and Palestinian merchants. Those factors combined made the program an active contributor to sustainable development and empowering Palestinian women economically and socially.
Examples of TNB’s social role in 2023
The National Bank launched many initiatives to support the education sector in Palestine, based on its belief in the importance of education to develop and build societies. The savings program sends a message of social responsibility by donating one dollar for every new savings account opened with TNB to students in need in Palestinian universities. TNB provided scholarships to students in need covering their university tuition and supporting them to complete their education in cooperation with the Friends of Birzeit University, Polytechnic University, Al-Quds University, and An-Najah National University.
Sponsoring Alharaja Market
Based on TNB’s national and social responsibility to support small national industries as they are the building block and growth engine of the local economy, The National Bank sponsored, for the second year in a row, the Alharaja Market organized by the Ramallah Municipality. Many projects participated in the market, offering different products, including handicrafts, food products, and heritage and artistic works.
Sponsoring Expo Nablus 2023
To stimulate domestic tourism and economic revival in Nablus and support Palestinian national industries, The National Bank sponsored the National Industries and Shopping Exhibition and Festival “Expo Nablus 2023” organized by the Nablus Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A large number and diverse Palestinian industrial, commercial and service companies from various governorates took part in the Expo.
A diamond sponsorship of the Jenin Shopping Festival 2023
With a diamond sponsorship from The National Bank, the Jenin Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture opened the 2023 Jenin Shopping Festival for the fourth year in a row. 75 national Palestinian companies from various sectors participated in the festival this year, displaying their products and services to visitors who came with their families from various Palestinian governorates.
To empower Palestinian women and support the rights of their children, The National Bank sponsored the entertainment day organized by the Palestinian Maintenance Fund for its beneficiaries in Turmus Ayya. More than 1,700 boys and girls accompanied by their mothers participated in the event. The activities included interactive and educational art sessions, games, competitions, face painting, and other activities.
In an effort by The National Bank to promote a digital future in Palestine and allow Palestinian youth to transform their fintech ideas into digital programs and platforms on the market, TNB supported many initiatives, including:
Launching the Pal Blue Book platform to the market
Under the sponsorship of the Palestinian Capital Market Authority, TNB and the Flow business accelerator launched the “Pal Blue Book” platform, a fintech solution developed following the cooperation between the two parties as part of the incubation program for fintech solutions launched in 2021. Pal Blue Book relies on data science and artificial intelligence to optimize vehicle pricing and assessment, and automatically creates optimal pricing strategies based on data science.
TNB sponsored the first international conference on digital transformation, organized by the Arab American University on its campus in Ramallah entitled “Empowering a Digital Future”. The conference included several sessions that addressed trends, challenges, and opportunities for digital transformation around the world in various sectors. It focused on digital inclusion, bridging the digital divide, digital security and privacy, the role of institutions in advancing digital transformation, the role of universities in the future of employment in the digital age, and the future of education in this digital age. The sessions also hosted panels of specialized and pioneering speakers who touched on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and the transfer of models, experiences and research.
In 2023, TNB supported several initiatives for children with special needs, which included diagnosing and treating children with brain and behavioral disorders in cooperation with the Takween Center, and a psychological and educational support program for mothers of children with disabilities who are receiving treatment at the Princess Basma Foundation in Jerusalem.
In 2023, The National Bank continued to spread digital awareness on banking to various sectors through its social media platforms. It posted educational material on information security to raise awareness of electronic fraud. The bank also raised banking awareness by holding educational lectures in Palestinian schools and universities. Such workshops included raising awareness about financial inclusion accounts to a group of Birzeit University students as part of the “Arab Financial Inclusion Day” activities and providing banking education about electronic payment tools and banking services to students of the Faculty of Economics at the Arab American University in Jenin.
The National Bank oversees the integration of international ethical, social, and environmental initiatives into its business and adheres to best practices in implementing their principles, to guarantee an integral contribution towards developing the Palestinian society.
United Nations Global Compact
In 2013, The National Bank was proud to join the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) initiative for business and become a signatory to the UNGC´s universally accepted ten principles for human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. The National Bank integrated these principles into its day-to-day operations and has since designed a variety of responsible and sustainable lending products to match the diverse and evolving needs of the Palestinian society.
The ten principles are:
Human Rights
Labor
Environment
Anti-Corruption
The Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs)
Ever since inception, The National Bank focuses on gender equality through its unique programs, enabling women to be self-dependent and productive members of the Palestinian society. In the year 2015, The National Bank has signed the Women Empowerment Principles which is a joint initiative of the United Nations Global Compact.
The seven principles
OPIC Environmental and Social policy
The National Bank is proud to be the first bank in Palestine to adopt and implement OPIC’s Social and Environmental policy. To ensure the best implementation, The National Bank has built a strict monitoring system to track its investments and projects adhering to the policy’s principles on compliance with law, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, labour right, protection of natural habitats, conservation of biological diversity, climate change, pollution prevention and resource efficiency, public health, physical and cultural heritage and the protection of agricultural lands and soil conservation.
