Bulgarian-American Credit Bank was among the most awarded institutions in the first NEXT DiFi AWARDS 2024 financial innovations competition and received awards in all categories it participated in: Digital Banking, ESG/Green Solutions and Affordable Finance. The official awards ceremony took place on October 18, 2024 at the Capital Fort Ballroom’s hall New York.

The annual NEXT DiFi AWARDS' 2024 are being held for the first time at the initiative of b2b Media. The competition is a continuation of the already popular international financial forum NEXT DiFi, and its aim is to recognize the most innovative organizations from the financial and financial - technology sphere. Since its first edition, the initiative has attracted the leading innovative banking and non-banking institutions in Bulgaria.

The NEXT DiFi AWARDS' 2024 jury awarded BACB with two first prizes in the Digital Banking and ESG/Green Solutions categories and one second prize in the Accessible Finance category. BACB's achievements are a logical outcome of the implementation of its policy to digitalize the bank's processes and products, as well as the ESG development strategy it follows. BACB's teams are constantly striving to upgrade the products and services they offer to improve the customer experience. Accessibility of banking finance, modernization of customer service in the digital space and a high level of security for their finances are among the main objectives of the bank.

"We believe that financial institutions play a key role in the transition to a sustainable economy by directing resources to green projects. At the same time, they should be role models in creating advanced digital products and introducing innovative policies with real impact on society and nature. Our long-term vision is to build a more sustainable and equitable future by developing financial products that meet the highest standards of environmental and social sustainability," said Tsvetelina Borislavova, Chair of the Supervisory Board of BACB, on the occasion of the awards the bank received.

Through its overall activities, BACB demonstrates sustainable practices and a commitment to environmental protection and social responsibility. Among BACB's key successes in implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy for 2023-2027 is the transition to 100% green electricity in the Bank's two headquarters in Sofia, which reduces direct carbon emissions by 113.35 tonnes per year. This exceeds the 25% planned in the Bank's strategy and helps us to achieve a 30.23% reduction compared to 2021. As a result of digitizing its products, the bank has now saved over 1,200,000 pages of paper and saved over 100 trees. These are just some of the examples that rank BACB among the drivers of changing economic models and development policies, with the integration of green ideas into them.