Focusing on topics of global importance affecting the banking industry, WSBI represents the interests of its members towards international policy makers and standard setters on the main regulatory and other issues, promotes a vision for a pluralistic banking model, and supports financial inclusion. WSBI also brings together members to exchange knowledge at an international level.
Scale2Save is WSBI’s Development Finance Practice, which assists financial service providers in providing better opportunities to vulnerable people, in areas such as micro and small rural enterprise and farm business support services, including climate-resilient and gender inclusion financial products, better access to digital financial services, and cash-in-cash-out solutions. The organization publishes every year a comprehensive report about its members' contributions to the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, featuring data-driven evidence and case studies of banking initiatives towards an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future. In 2025, WSBI-ESBG launched the
SDG Awards Ceremony, honoring the best practices in six categories: Inclusive Banking & Social Impact, Economic Growth & Empowerment, Digital Transformation & Technological Innovation, Climate Finance, Customer Education, and Consumer Protection. To promote the importance of savings and honor the memory of Filippo Ravizza and the First International Thrift Congress in Milan in 1924, WSBI launches every year its
World Savings Day campaign. The 2025 edition, which started in the spring and culminated on 31 October, aimed to challenge the traditional perception of savings, focusing on its symbolic meaning in people's lives, suggesting: "This is not a savings account. It’s far greater than this." In 2025, WSBI launched the first edition of the
Social Week campaign to showcase how locally rooted financial institutions contribute to inclusion, sustainability, and community well-being in their communities and, as a direct consequence, around the world. During the Social Week in September, WSBI member banks organized activities in their respective countries centered around financial education and empowerment, community engagement and social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and empowerment and equality. == History ==