2020 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS 589

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A COMMITTED BANK: INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, CIVIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BNP PARIBAS

Our civic responsibility: being a positive agent for change

BNP Paribas Personal Finance also deployed a system to support customers during the health crisis, which includes:

■ Postponing maturities for individual customers at the height of the health crisis;

■ Taking the pandemic risk into consideration in the contracts insuring loans, leading to the acceleration of the processing of claims (which were themselves on the rise) and the extension of coverage, particularly in terms of waiting periods and deductibles;

■ The wide deployment of digital solutions developed in recent years (in particular for electronic signatures).

In another vein, Nickel, a subsidiary of the Group, continues its development.

Nickel offers a bank account, an IBAN, a payment card, an account for all from age 12, without conditions, and allows people who has received a Banking suspention to make a fresh start. The subsidiary, which works with a network of 6,000 tobacconists in France, now operates in Spain with 72 points of sale through the national lottery distribution networks and tobacco shops. The objective is to reach 3,000 points of sale and 700,000 customers in this country by the end of 2024 and to continue by further development in Belgium and Portugal. The Nickel offer is based on four strong values: universality, simplicity, usefulness and benevolence: by welcoming all types of people, Nickel acts with a role of financial inclusion. Indeed, at the end of 2020, more than 1.9 million(1) Nickel accounts were opened (an increase of 27% compared to 2019) by customers with the following characteristics: earning less than EUR 1,500 per month (79%); unemployed or without regular income (40%); living with friends (28%) and under the age of 40 (60%).

Training in financial issues and assistance to young people

Financial education has demonstrated its effectiveness in combating excessive indebtedness and encouraging economic growth. Therefore, most Group entities deploy training programmes in several countries. Given the health context, the offer for young people has been greatly developed.

Among them, Responsible Budget : The digital platform deployed by BNP Paribas Personal Finance for young people, their families and teachers, to learn how to manage a budget through a serious game. This platform has proved its usefulness in the context of the health crisis, and has helped 33,000 young people to manage their budget. Since 2020, Responsible Budget is now included on the French Retail Bank's Campus Services platform for under-18 customers.

In France and Italy, young people were supported thanks to the digital platforms Campus Service and Futuriamo which identify the services offered by the Group s partners such as revision or exam preparation programmes. Deferrals of monthly payments, preferential or long-term offers to finance their higher education, as well as the Garantme offer which offers a deposit, free of charge in the first year, for the rental of a home were proposed.

In France, the Group now provides young people supported and mentored by associations fighting for equal opportunities hosted by L'Ascenseur such as Article 1 and the Institut de l'Engagement (i.e. the Commitment Institute) (see also Combat social exclusion and support human rights, Commitment 8), specific products and services such as unsecured student loans for young people wishing to study in France's Grandes Écoles.

(1) Since its creation.

COMMITMENT 8: COMBAT SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS

A player in combating social exclusion for many years, BNP Paribas works on providing long-term support in the areas of at risk communities, in particular in sensitive urban areas. More broadly, its commitment to promoting human rights continues to gain strength.

COMBAT SOCIAL EXCLUSION Combating social exclusion is one of the main priorities of BNP Paribas. It focuses on two key areas: integrating young people and setting up local community schemes.

Alongside these actions, the Group also encourages its employees to get on board by arranging skills-based volunteering with associations involved in tackling the social inclusion of vulnerable people (see Good place to work and responsible employment management, Commitment 5).

Projet Banlieues: an initiative to foster social inclusion in disadvantaged urban areas

For 15 years, the BNP Paribas Foundation and the French Retail Banking network have supported community projects in urban areas considered a priority by the local council. The BNP Paribas Foundation supports numerous partnerships with recognised associations, particularly in the fields of education and employment.

Education The main focus of the Projet Banlieues, the fight against academic failure, conducted alongside Association de la Fondation pour la Ville (AFEV), supported 9,000 children and young people in 2020, who were able to benefit from more than 18,000 hours of support from the association s volunteers. In 2020, the BNP Paribas Foundation renewed its support to AFEV for three additional years (2021-2023), with a budget of EUR 220,000 per year.