Committed to Inclusiveness

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Since 2016 Banco de Chile has had a plan for promoting inclusion within the organization, based on a policy and declaration of principles, which are manifested in different initiatives to support employees, customers and the community, such as: the Persons with Disabilities Inclusion Program and the Working Group on Inclusion, Physical and Digital Accessibility and the Teletón charitable campaign. The Persons with Disabilities Inclusion Policy considers the principles of justice, respect, non-discrimination and equal opportunities with equity. This serves to recognize effective inclusion as an asset for the corporation and a hallmark that contributes to Chile’s development.

A. Persons with Disabilities Inclusion Program and Inclusion Working Group
Inclusion Through its Workplace Inclusion Program, Banco de Chile manages both the work life cycle of persons with disabilities and the role of supervisors and teams. The initiative includes an evaluation by a specialist in inclusion, implementation of an Integrated Support Plan and, when needed, a severance package with specific tools to build a new life project.

Persons with Disabilities Hired by the Bank 2019-2020

Inclusion Working Group A working group was created in 2017 to prepare and implement action plans related to the Inclusion Policy. This group's role is to review, update and improve processes and revenue flows related to the Inclusion Program. In 2019 a comprehensive evaluation by an occupational therapist was incorporated.

In 2020, the bank followed up with employees in the program, providing them with psychological and social guidance through the Counseling Program, as well as ergonomic support to help them work from home and optimize their performance and wellbeing.

A. Accessibility

A few years ago Banco de Chile began adapting its branch network to make branches accessible and provide mobility to serve persons with disabilities. In 2020 it installed 1,771 new ATMs, all of which meet the height standards in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and 464 inclusive audio guide devices at branches and key locations around the country. These improvements were supported by the Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Development Department and personnel from Lazarillo App (an app for blind and visually impaired persons).

Furthermore, a customer service protocol for persons with disabilities was reinforced every six months at all branches. This protocol establishes how they should be served when tellers are not easily accessible (e.g. when they are located underground, on second floors or are only accessible by stairs).

In terms of digital accessibility, a multidisciplinary team was formed with employees from the Digital Transformation, Development and Labor Relations, Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Development and Technology departments to meet regularly and hear advice from experts on the matter. They joined forces to develop a study of needs of persons with disabilities and a test for users of internal and external digital channels and a diagnostic of digital channels based on international WACG 2.1 guidelines and automated software: Online banking and the “Mi Banco”, “Mi Pago” and “Mi Pass” apps.

In addition, the bank also launched an awareness process with a series of talks on accessibility for the entire team from the Digital Transformation Department and drafted manuals for developing accessible digital channels.

C. Inclusion Initiatives

During this period, Banco de Chile implemented a special support plan for persons with disabilities in order to meet their IT needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing them free medical counseling and facilitating accessibility to banking services. Remote channels were strengthened so as to prevent them from having to leave home and potentially be exposed to the virus.

Eight thousand persons with hearing impairments received free medical counseling through the online Vi-Sor platform from specialists from the UC Christus Health Network and a sign language interpreter from Red Apis.

All branches were supplied with special face masks that allowed lip reading so that account executives could safely serve deaf people. These masks were purchased from an entrepreneur with a hearing impairment that donates her earnings to the Deaf Persons Assistance Center (“Centro de Apoyo a Personas Sordas” or CAPS). Similarly, using the Lazarillo app, 17 thousand persons with visual impairments received notifications with important prevention and self-care tips, as well as information on the availability and accessibility of bank services.

Through an initiative driven by the subsidiary Banchile Corredores de Seguros, 200 tablets were donated to different schools around the country run by the Coanil Foundation—an institution that provides support services for persons with intellectual disabilities—to contribute to continued studies for children and facilitate their inclusion in the workplace.

Teletón

Banco de Chile’s commitment to the inclusion of persons with disabilities began 42 years ago from its partnership with the Teletón Foundation, an entity it has supported continuously since its founding.

After delaying the 2019 event because of the civil unrest in Chile towards the end of last year, it was held in April 2020. Because of the new public health crisis affecting Chile and the world at that time, the charitable crusade was conducted online (i.e. donations were only made digitally).

In order to care for our employees and the community in general, Banco de Chile did not open its branches and invited the country’s leading banks to join the initiative by installing a digital button on each of their websites to redirect visitors to the now legendary account 24.500-03. The campaign managed to raise a record amount of Ch$39,835,201,003, enabling Teletón to continue rehabilitating children and young people with disabilities during the year.

Expo Inclusión 2020

For the third straight year, Banco de Chile supported Expo Inclusion 2020, an event held in November with an innovative 3D digital format featuring sign language and online recruiting, the first fully inclusive streamed conference. The initiative connected people with disabilities with more than 100 companies, 40 foundations and 60 SMEs and entrepreneurs offering training and the opportunity to apply to over 1,000 job offers.

The bank participated with workplace inclusion talks, where selection specialists interviewed applicants online, and one-on-one mentoring sessions for persons with disabilities.

Banco de Chile - Chilean Open Cup

The corporation has been supporting the Banco de Chile Cup wheelchair tennis championship for 22 years. This year the tournament was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sponsorship of Wheelchair Tennis Players

Banco de Chile has been the official sponsor of paralympic tennis player Macarena Cabrillana (ranked number 1 in Chile and 12 in the world) for the last nine years. In 2020 the bank also began supporting Alexander Cataldo (ranked number 1 in Chile and 27 in the world).