OREANDA-NEWS. Through its annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report released today, Bank of America shares successes and challenges of fulfilling its purpose of making financial lives better for customers, clients and communities through the power of every connection. The report includes details on how CSR is integrated into Bank of America’s business – its policies, practices, services, products and employee benefits.

Bank of America Global Corporate Social Responsibility Executive Andrew Plepler discusses how CSR permeates the company in the following video clip:
http://youtu.be/b6lCoODztMw.

In Bank of America’s efforts to deliver on its purpose for customers and clients and help build thriving communities around the world, the company has:

  • Established a Global Corporate Social Responsibility Committee that regularly reports to the Corporate Governance Committee of our board of directors.
  • Demonstrated environmentally responsible investing by making one of the largest commitments to address climate change in the banking industry – \$70 billion dollars, including a \$10 billion Catalytic Finance Initiative to accelerate clean energy investments in low-carbon economies in emerging countries.
  • Partnered with other financial institutions to co-author the Green Bond Principles to provide guidance on the issuance process for green bonds, and launched the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Green Bond Index. Bank of America was the No. 1 underwriter of green bond issuances last year, helping to triple the green bond investment volume from 2013 to 2014.
  • Simplified products and services and launched SafeBalance Banking®, a low-fee account alternative that eliminates overdrafts by only permitting transactions to be approved when the customer has enough money in the account to fund them.
  • Expanded Better Money Habits through an innovative online financial literacy platform to provide accessible financial education options and help individuals make more informed financial decisions.
  • Supported small businesses by committing \$175 million in loans over three years in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and select community development financial institutions. Bank of America also provided \$10.3 billion in new credit to small business customers, giving entrepreneurs and innovators new opportunities to boost the economy.
  • Contributed \$200 million to address pressing global and local community needs through the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, including philanthropic investments to more than 3,000 nonprofits. In addition to addressing immediate needs such as hunger relief and workforce training, the Foundation invests in longer-term solutions by educating nonprofit leaders and their organizations’ beneficiaries about better money habits.
  • Engaged employees to contribute 2 million volunteer hours by connecting them to meaningful issues in cities and regions around the world, enabling them to be a part of the solution, including the company’s first global, multicity build with Habitat for Humanity.

The CSR Report is structured to follow and respond to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3.1 framework and GRI’s Financial Services Sector Supplement, the industry standard by which CSR efforts are evaluated and measured.

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 48 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 4,800 retail financial centers and approximately 15,900 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 31 million active users and approximately 17 million mobile users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.