Social finance and social banking: a path towards a more sustainable future

Introducing products and services in finances and banking with a prominent social component is one of the ways international community responds to modern challenges. The aim of this chapter is to make systematization and provide insight into the financial products and services that are designed to improve social environment. Main categories of the classification proposed by the authors are: Retail and Microentrepreneruship, Corporate and Investment Banking, Asset Management and Insurance. Even though many of these products and services are still in an experimental phase, a growing need for social finance and banking is evident. Additionally, the influence of public opinion on the financial institutions contributes to their adaptation. Overall, a clear trend of growth of this type of products and services is apparent. Future research and professional discussions are particularly important in order to support further development of the concepts of social finance and social banking.