TransBank
Mongolia is an unusual country in many ways. It is vast with poor infrastructure. It has a tiny population, but its cities, particularly the capital, suffer from appalling air pollution. People with disabilities suffer most.
Government data puts the number of people born with disabilities at more than 100,000, or 3.3% of the population. These people rarely get the opportunities to express their full potential. The country’s banks know this. TransBank, which wins this year’s award for best bank for corporate and social responsibility, is a case in point and a leader in its field.
Three years ago, it overhauled its CSR policy and chose to focus on blind people. Senior management, including deputy CEO work with charities including the Mongolian national federation of the blind and the World Blind Union. The bank’s headquarters, branches and data centres are designed to cater to visually-impaired employees, who make up 5% of staff.
TransBank provides career and IT training, offers fitness sessions to accommodate its blind employees, has flexible working hours and provides transport to and from work. It’s hard to overstate how valuable this is in a country where the national jobless rate is 6% but where 75% of people with disabilities are unemployed.
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