Financial Inclusion Products & Services and Non-Financial Support

Financial Inclusion Products & Services and Non-Financial Support

Financial Inclusion Products & Services

Key Card Program:

Garanti BBVA developed the Key Card Program to cover customers who cannot normally receive credit card services due to their low credit scores. The target group of this Program is low-income people with low credit score. According to the financial health and inclusion commitment of the bank, Garanti BBVA takes 5 main headings into consideration when defining the threshold values ​​of the groups it determines to be vulnerable, and one of them is the income threshold. The definition of low-income is correlated with the officially determined minimum wage in Turkey. The target customer group suitable for the key card program is determined based on income and financial background data. Only bank salary customers who are below the low-income threshold and have a low credit score can benefit from the Key Card Program. By identifying customers who are not eligible for a credit card during their application, Garanti BBVA pave the way for them to have a credit card in return for collateral. In this way, we enable customers to both receive credit card services and improve their financial health.

• This card targets the customers with certain risk criteria and it covers the clients whose credit card applications would normally be rejected.
• The main features of Key Card is as below:
• The customer defines the collateral amount and deposits a amount is defined by the bank into his current account.
• The bank blocks this account and the credit card application is approved.
• If the customer's blocked account is a deposit account, interest will continue to accrue on the blocked amount.
• The credit card limit is determined by the system according to this collateral amount.
• Payments are regularly checked every 6 months and if the regular use is confirmed, the blockage on the account is removed.

The Unbanked Women Program:

As Garanti BBVA, for many years, we have recognized the importance of women's increased and active participation in the economy for sustainable economic development and social progress, and we emphasize this at every opportunity.

Within this scope, in July 2023, we launched the " The Unbanked Women Program" in order to support the active participation of women in Türkiye who have never been introduced to banking services or have limited contact with banking services in economic life.

Women's active participation in economic and social life is crucial for sustainable development. With "The Unbanked Women Program", we aim to support unbanked women, help them discover their potential and ensure their active participation in economic life.

Who are these women?

• Have very limited budget, not have a regular income
• Frequently borrowing money, using open account with neighborhood shops
• Spend the money at hand, not using a credit card for fear of losing their control
• Responsible for money management and saving, hardly able to collect very small amounts of money
• Prefer to keep their savings in TL or gold and at home instead of at a bank.

What we offer as financial support to these women?

• Bonus Troy card with 3k TL limit (free)
• Microloan of up to 5k TL
• Saving account options with easier conditions
• Low cost special insurance package for women

With this program, women will learn about the benefits of the banking system, manage their own budgets and evaluate their savings and meet with solutions tailored to their needs.

Microbusiness Financial Support:

As Garanti BBVA, we are aware that there are a large number of Microbusiness across Türkiye that need financial support and we aim to increase their contribution to the economy by providing financial services to these enterprises within the framework of inclusive growth. These types of microbusinesses can be defined as risky or small-scale in the mainstream banking system and therefore remain outside the financial system.

Garanti BBVA takes 5 main headings into consideration when defining the threshold values ​​of the groups it determines to be vulnerable, and 3 of them is related with definition of microbusiness target group as: Income, microbusiness and geographic thresholds. The microbusiness group is determined by the number of company employees, the company's income and the geography in which the company operates.

The definition of Microbusiness we have defined is in line with the definition determined by the Turkish Legislation and it covers the companies with max 10 employees and certain annual sales revenue (TRY) as indicated in The Regulation on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises ("Regulation") was published in the Official Gazette on May 25, 2023,

In Türkiye as a whole, 30 provinces with the lowest socio-economic development level were identified by Presidency of The Republic of Türkiye-Investment Office. The related document can be found via the link. Provinces are grouped under region 5 and 6 categories are in the lowest socio-economic development level. As Garanti BBVA, by financially supporting microbusinesses in these provinces, we follow an inclusive approach and support sustainable growth.

The products that we offer within the scope of financial support to micro SMEs are listed below;

The target audience and numerical figures of all these products mentioned above are as follows:

Non-Financial Support to Financial Inclusion

5 Pebbles: Social and Financial Leadership Program

The aim of the program, carried out by ÖRAV (Teacher Academy Foundation) and supported by Garanti BBVA, is to increase the knowledge of primary, secondary and high school teachers about social and financial literacy and to provide students with these skills by using active learning methods with a child-centered approach. While raising awareness on social and financial issues to students, it is ultimately aimed to instill awareness of "Being a Good Citizen".  Tutors continue the one-to-one mentoring process with participants for 5 modules listed below for 5 months.

The program consists of 5 modules:

• Personal understanding and discovery
• Rights and responsibilities
• Saving and spending awareness
• Planning and budgeting
• Social and financial initiatives

Unbanked Women Trainings

Garanti BBVA defines unbanked women group as women in Türkiye who have never been introduced to banking services or have limited contact with banking services in economic life and they are vulnerable group. With "Unbanked Women Trainings ", we aim to support unbanked women, help them discover their potential and ensure their active participation in economic life and improve their financial literacy in banking system.

Two different training modules were implemented within the scope of the Unbanked Women Trainings to support women's active participation in economic life and improve their financial literacy. Both modules are free of charge and open to participation not only to bank customers but also to all unbanked women.

• Basic financial literacy training, prepared for women to better manage their own economies in cooperation with the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Association (FODER), has been available online and free of charge since July 2023.
• In cooperation with the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work (KEDV), face-to-face trainings are organized with women's cooperatives to increase womens’ financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills. The provinces in which the trainings take place since October 2023 are İstanbul, İzmir, Muğla, Manisa, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa.

In 2023, 1,760 unbanked women participated in financial literacy trainings.

Accessible Banking Services

Garanti BBVA Customer Contact Center continued to make financial life easier for its customers by doubling the time allowed for punching in the numbers on the IVR system, and connecting hearing-impaired clients to the Live Support Assistant effortlessly and quickly within the scope of “Live Support” service, the written communication channel available on Garanti BBVA Mobile. Our employees, who work as disabled-friendly customer representatives at the bank, constantly provide consultancy and guidance services to people who has hearing-impaired including our clients. Disabled-friendly customer representatives communicate with people using sign language during video calls and direct them to various transactions including account opening, money transfers and bill payments. Thus, hearing impaired people's integration into the financial system and their financial literacy in usage improves. This system is offered free of charge to everyone who wants to get information about banking services, including the customers.