Awards

Handelsbanken is Europe’s safest bank

Handelsbanken is the safest commercial bank in Europe, according to Global Finance's annual ranking "World's 50 Safest Commercial Banks". The survey includes analyzes of 500 banks worldwide based on long-term ratings from Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch 2024. The list excludes banks that are majority owned by states or regions.

"A long-term approach, trust, close relationships with customers and a strong balance sheet characterise the work to maintain Handelsbanken’s high credit quality," says Carl Cederschiöld, CFO, Handelsbanken.

Handelsbanken's customers satisfied according to SKI Bank

Handelsbanken once again has the most satisfied customers among the major banks in Sweden* and achieves top results among both private and corporate customers in all the markets in which the bank operates: Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden. This is shown by the annual industry survey from the Swedish Quality Index/EPSI, SKI Bank 2024.

*Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB and Swedbank

Business Bank of the Year & Sweden's Small Enterprise Bank 2024 (2023)

Handelsbanken has once again received the accolade of Sweden’s Business Bank of the Year, according to corporate customers surveyed by Finansbarometern. Corporate customers of all sizes, small to large, appreciate what we offer, and we have again been named both Business Bank of the Year and Sweden’s Small Enterprise Bank.

Thanks to our close customer relationships, our decentralised way of working and our expertise in building and maintaining new commercial contacts that generate business, our customers are more satisfied than those of the other banks in the survey. Our approach to the digitalisation of our business, ensuring no compromises to our personal relationships with corporate customers, has proven a strong contributing factor to those high levels of satisfaction. Moreover, our work to develop e-services and to improve our online offering has also found favour among corporate customers.

Finansbarometern is one of Sweden’s largest independent market surveys, focusing on how companies view their banking relationships. Customer’s rate their banks across several categories including overall satisfaction, price, e-services, advisory services, their product and service offering, and customer service. In the region of 1,300 companies participated in this year’s survey. and the results are based on responses from companies and organisations with more than 100 employees, as well as from small enterprises with 1-20 employees.

Sustainable Brand Index

Handelsbanken is perceived as the Swedish banking industry's most sustainable brand, according to Swedish consumers.

We carry out ambitious sustainability work throughout the bank. Products such as Energikollen and Go Climate, in combination with sustainability representatives working in the branches close to our customers, have yielded results in how the bank's brand is perceived.

Sustainable Brand Index™ is Europe's largest brand study with a focus on sustainability. In the 2024 study, 29,000 Swedish consumers answered questions about which brands they perceive to be the most sustainable. The survey covers 432 brands and 36 industries.

The Banker has named Handelsbanken Sweden’s “Bank of the Year 2023”

Handelsbanken was acclaimed “Bank of the Year 2023” in Sweden by the Financial Times’ periodical ‘The Banker’, which covers the global banking sector. The distinction was awarded to Handelsbanken on the basis of its ambitious sustainability work and stable profitability.

“We build long-term relationships and grow alongside our customers. This has been a successful business model for over 150 years,” says Carina Åkerström, President and CEO of Handelsbanken.

“While most banks have committed to be net zero by 2050, Handelsbanken has set an earlier target of 2040 and announced its first targets for reducing GHG emissions in its real estate financing portfolio,” reads the jury’s reasoning. 

The award serves as further acknowledgement of Handelsbanken’s long-term competitiveness and robust business model. 

“The starting point for Handelsbanken’s development and innovation is always our customers’ needs, and this is especially true of our sustainability work. It is hugely gratifying to see that The Banker has highlighted ‘Energikollen’, which is available in our digital meeting places. The service helps our mortgage customers with advice on energy-saving measures, which it is possible to finance via a green loan,” says Catharina Belfrage Sahlstrand, Chief Sustainability and Climate Officer.

Sustainability Yearbook 2023

To be listed in the Yearbook, companies must score within the top 15 per cent of their industry and must achieve an S&P Global Sustainability Score within 30 per cent of their industry’s top-performing company. Handelsbanken is proud to be among those to have reached this distinction.

Global 100 most sustainable companies 2024 – Corporate Knights

Handelsbanken, ranked at number 82, is one of only three Swedish companies included among the top 100 most sustainable corporations in the world by Corporate Knights.  The Global 100 list is an annual ranking of organisations' sustainability performance, administered by the independent consultancy Corporate Knights.