Sustainability in Swiss cantonal banks

How can financial service providers promote and support the change towards more sustainability? We asked five Swiss cantonal banks about sustainability activities, offerings and challenges. The most important insights are available in the white paper.

A global issue – locally tackled

Swiss cantonal banks are partly publicly owned commercial banks that operate locally, offering their services primarily to cantonal residents. The 24 cantonal banks are important players in Switzerland‘s banking sector*.

  • They account for 20% of the total balance sheet among all banks;
  • 17% of people employed in banking work in cantonal banks;
  • They provide 40% of mortgages in Switzerland.

This report summarises the results of the study conducted in May and June 2022 on sustainability-related activities, offerings and challenges of the Swiss cantonal banks. We spotlighted five cantonal banks and invited their sustainability heads to extensive in-depth interviews.

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Zühlke Talk on open banking: ‘The biggest challenge is the cultural shift at the banks’

The Institute of Financial Services (IFZ) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) examined the topic of open banking in a study supported by Zühlke. In a video interview, Dr Urs Blattmann, lecturer and head of the project, speaks with Stefan Hirzel, Head of Banking at Zühlke Switzerland, about the key findings of the study, the importance of the right mindset and open banking’s crucial role as a strategic challenge.