Our Mission: Think globally, act locally, cooperate internationally
The Sparkassen were set up in Germany over 200 years ago as microfinance institutions for low-income earners. Since then, they have grown into one of the largest financial groups in the world – one that successfully combines outstanding professionalism with a strong social mandate. Tasked with sharing this successful model with developing countries and emerging economies, German Sparkassenstiftung for International Cooperation (DSIK) is bringing financial services to the people who live there. Ultimately, this is intended to help them become more prosperous and establish stable economic structures of their own.
DSIK assists local financial institutions to manage their businesses in keeping with commercial principles while fulfilling their social responsibilities.
Our Objective: Financial Inclusion
DSIK provides proactive support to financial institutions that sustainably foster economic and social development at the local, regional, or national level through needs-oriented banking services. DSIK’s goal is to assist its partner institutions to become more professional and therefore able to give their customers permanent access to financial services. The main target groups are small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), as well as socially marginalized groups. This benefits our partners as delivering services to these customer segments secures ongoing stable and satisfactory returns.
By strengthening local and regional financial structures, DSIK not only generates development opportunities for wide sections of the population and local companies, but ultimately also helps to create jobs and income.
This complies with the approach and objectives of Germany's Sparkassen. It also has a stabilizing effect on the respective financial sector and, as a result, on the given country's economic development. With their 200-year history, Germany's Sparkassen show that sustainable microfinance is feasible if it is organized efficiently and professionally. And it is these key success factors that DSIK communicates to its partners through its project work.
Our Code of Conduct
With this Code of Conduct DSIK defines its basic principles, values and ethics in the workplace to which it holds itself and its partners accountable. The Code of Conduct emphasizes the responsibility of DSIK that comes along with its social and public mandate especially when collaborating with international target groups. In the event of an offence committed against the Code of Conduct, confidential information may be passed on via German Sparkassenstiftung's complaints and internal whistleblowing mechanism.
Content of our Code of Conduct
- Non-discrimination Policy
- Anti-Corruption Policy
- Social Media Policy
- Gender Based Violence Manifest
- Digital Principles Manifest
- Auditing & Quality Assurance
- Self-obligation Sustainability
- Articles of Association (Satzung)
