Women’s Forum G20 Italy, Jingle Pang (Unicredit): "Digital has the power to bring us closer to our customers, making banks more human and improving our customer interactions"

Jingle Pang, Group Digital & Information Officer of Unicredit, declared to Il Giornale d’Italia, in occasion of the Women's Forum G20 Italy, the event in Milan during which institutional and private leaders discussed the issue of female empowerment: “Gender equality, diversity and inclusion at large are topics we must continuously work on to ensure we are moving in the right direction”.

The focus of the event was women and their role in the post-pandemic restart, the importance of investing in the female universe and breaking down the cultural stigma that blocks their potential. Encouraging girls to choose scientific and STEM paths is essential but it is not enough, we must allow women to grow professionally.

Women’s Forum G20 Italy, Jingle Pang (Unicredit): "We are strongly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion both, internally and externally"

We talk more and more about digital transition, innovation, about the fight against climate change and in a particular context such as the one we are living, the professions are transformed, and it is absolutely vital for our economy and competitiveness that women have the same opportunities as men. To build a sustainable growth path there is a need to act and eliminate the gender gap. But which are the challenges we will have to face? And which will the role of the banking sector be? Here follows our interview to Jingle Pang, Unicredit Group Digital & Information Officer.

The Women’s G20 Forum ends, what is the focus of your speech?

My speech focused on three key themes. Firstly, the importance of banks switching to digital in a way that helps simplify processes and brings us closer to our customers. Secondly, that this change requires not only the right skillsets, but above all, the right mindset – people that are curious and adaptable. And lastly, that technology can be successfully leveraged for business transformation only when a diverse set of people come together and collaborate on this.

What are Europe's challenges in removing the gender gap?

Gender equality, diversity and inclusion at large are topics we must continuously work on to ensure we are moving in the right direction. This requires commitment and collaboration.

As a social actor, we have the responsibility to contribute to a more equal and inclusive society with concrete actions both, inside our bank and outside. We take this commitment seriously and continuously work towards a more diverse workforce as well as playing our role in relevant industry initiatives and partnerships to foster joint progress.

As an example, our Group CEO signed the zero gender gap pact at the Women’s Forum opening event, alongside other CEOs of major Italian and international companies, ensuring the topic is firmly on the corporate agenda with concrete objectives and a framework to move towards greater gender equality in Italy.

What is Unicredit doing to remove the gender gap?

We are strongly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion both, internally and externally. By 2023, UniCredit has committed to a target of 30% women in senior management. 40% of our Group Executive Committee and 46% of the UniCredit Board of Directors are women, and we continue to have a strong representation of women in new hires with a steady trend of 55% between 2019 and 2020. To achieve our targets, we have set up dedicated development paths for Group managers focused on inclusive behaviour as well as training programmes on unconscious bias to ensure they have the right tools to promote positive change and always help us move towards a more inclusive work environment.

Furthermore, dedicated career development programmes have been put in place to specifically increase female leadership throughout the Group.

What does Unicredit focus on in terms of innovation?

Our current main focus is designing our digital strategy at the heart of which will be our customers. This is why we are moving from “using digital” to “living digital”, which means reducing the distance we have with our customers and ensuring that we are there for them at every digital touch point. This doesn’t mean just being available via our banking app, but making our service offer available to our customers whenever they are online.

How will the information systems of Unicredit evolve in the future?

Our IT systems will evolve in line with our transformation journey towards a fully digital bank. Technology will play a crucial role in our ambitions, enabling digital to drive the business in the future, including our people, governance and culture.

In your opinion, how can Costumer Relations Management improve through the new information structure?

Banking at the moment is often very far from people’s lives and digital has the power to bring us closer to our customers, making banks more human and improving our customer interactions, processes and offering with more human touch.

[Read here the full article on Women’s Forum G20 Italy]