Banca Intesa has enabled its clients, as part of its digital banking app, a new function called Donate via App, which lets them round up an amount when paying digitally and donate the difference to UNICEF and, in that way, help the realization of programs for children across Serbia, which are now endangered by poverty the most.

According to data available to UNICEF, one in ten children in Serbia lives in poverty, and their numbers are increasing due to global crisis effects. This means that basic needs of many children are not met. Families with young children, the Roma and children in rural areas are especially at risk. Childhood poverty can leave serious consequences on the overall development of a child. Simultaneously, child neglect negatively affects the building of human resources needed for sustainable economic development. Considering that only 17% of Serbia’s population are children, UNICEF in Serbia emphasizes that it is important now more than ever to direct strong support toward our most valuable resource - children, to invest in every child through securing their access to healthcare, education and effective programs aimed at reducing poverty and social protection.

The innovative functionality Donate via App allows Banca Intesa clients to support the fight against poverty led by UNICEF for the children of Serbia in a very simple way. When entering a certain amount for payment within the payment order on the mobile application, digital banking users are automatically offered the option to donate funds, without additional costs. The amount that can be donated for children is rounded up to the nearest hundred, up to RSD 100 at the most, and the difference is directly transferred to the account of SOS Children’s Villages Serbia as a donation. Given that Banca Intesa has over 550,000 mobile banking users, who make almost two million payments per month, the small contributions of its clients will be of great importance for the most vulnerable families and children.