Dhaka, Mar 9 (bdnews24.com)—An international bankers' group has committed to reach financial products to a billion customers, most of who have been left out of traditional banking services.

The Global Alliance for Banking on Values, an independent network of 11 sustainable banks, made the commitment on Tuesday at the end of a three-day conference in Dhaka.

"The members of the GABV have committed to touch the lives of one billion people by 2020," Fazle Hasan Abed, founder-chairperson of BRAC and co-founder of the GABV, told a press conference.

"This is a major new pledge that could transform lives on a truly global scale, and make a substantial difference in our efforts to combat climate change," he added.

Representatives from the banks, from Asia to Latin America, gathered to try building a viable future for the financial industry through the three-day seminar that began on March 6.

The GABV, initiated in March 2009, uses finance to deliver sustainable development instruments for the unserved people, communities and the environment.

It represents around seven million customers in 20 countries, with a combined capital of over $14 billion.

It has already announced a commitment to raise $250 million in new capital over three years to support the expansion of $2 billion in lending to green projects and unserved communities around the world.

The money is expected to be raised by investors—including existing individual customers, institutions and new investors.

The alliance expects that the serving more customers is possible through expansion of the network's membership and by creation of new such banks, according to the statement.

The network's members plan to promote and demonstrate the impact of business models which focus on solutions to the world's most urgent social and environmental problems.

Peter Blom, chair and co-founder of the GABV, said, "We need to raise more money and invest in the sustainable bankers of the future so we can use this finance to its full potential.

"This commitment is an important line in the sand," he added. Blom is the CEO of a GABV member Triodos Bank, based in the Netherlands.

"We believe values-led banking can and should make a positive difference to the lives of one in six people within ten years," Blom said.

Extending this capital substantially in future years will help to reach the one billion targets, participants from the member banks observed.

bdnews24.com/pks/1915h.