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Intesa Sanpaolo, already invested 800 million for social work

The group led by Carlo Messina has passed the halfway point of its EUR 1.5 billion plan to combat inequality, educational poverty and to support art and culture

by Cristina Casadei

12 August 2025

2' min read

Key points

The fight against poverty
Financial inclusion
Youth employability
Educational Inclusion
Cultural and artistic events

2' min read

Intesa Sanpaolo has passed the milestone of investing EUR 1.5 billion by 2027 to fight poverty in our country. In the social half-yearly report, the group led by Carlo Messina announced that it had already spent EUR 800 million in the 2023-first half of 2025 period, exceeding half of what was envisaged in the 2022-2025 Business Plan. Around 1,000 of the bank's people who are dedicated to social and environmental sustainability initiatives contribute to the realisation of the projects. Intesa Sanpaolo's social and cultural commitment is in fact part of the ESG plan.

The fight against poverty

Going into the merits of the activities, in order to meet people's needs and reduce inequalities, with the project "Food and shelter for people in need" 60.3 million interventions were carried out in the period 2022-first half of 2025, exceeding by 20% the target of 50 million set for the entire Business Plan closing at the end of 2025. This meant, among other things, 49.1 million meals distributed, 4.3 million beds in social dormitories, and the distribution of 6.3 million medicines and 621,000 items of clothing.

Financial Inclusion

To promote the financial inclusion of the most vulnerable, social lending has disbursed EUR 23.4 billion since 2022, or 94% of the target of EUR 25 billion. In the first half of 2025, EUR 3 billion was disbursed, including EUR 143 million for credit to the third sector and EUR 53 million through the Fund for Impact to support vulnerable individuals and families.

Youth Employability

The employability programme 'Giovani e Lavoro', aimed at training and introducing young people to the Italian labour market in the first half of 2025 has gathered more than 2,200 applications, with 480 young people trained or in training. As of 2019, it has involved over 5,350 people and more than 2,480 partner companies. In addition to this programme, there are also those to bring students and the unemployed closer to the world of work such as 'Generation4Universities' and 'Digital Restart'.

Educational Inclusion

In the first half of this year, numerous initiatives were implemented to foster educational inclusion, involving 2,600 schools and 18,000 students, supporting merit and social mobility. As of 2022, more than 6,400 schools are involved. In particular, 'Futura', the initiative promoted by Save the Children, Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità and Yolk, with the collaboration of Intesa Sanpaolo, has created paths of growth and autonomy for 350 girls and young women, including 50 young mothers.

Cultural and artistic events

With an artistic heritage of 40 thousand works, the bank has confirmed its position as one of Europe's leading cultural players. In the first half of this year, Intesa Sanpaolo's four museums, the Gallerie d'Italia in Milan, Naples, Turin and Vicenza, welcomed 420,000 visitors, 77,000 children and young people in the educational programme and 4,900 people with disabilities in the 380 dedicated itineraries. Thanks to partnerships with leading Italian and foreign cultural institutions, 187 works were loaned to 39 exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Since 2022, the Group's museums have been visited by 2.3 million people.