Archive search

In the last few years, the bank lending channel has attracted enormous interest among researchers (Albertazzi et al., 2021; Cantero-Saiz et al., 2014, 2022; Jiménez et al., 2020). This channel proposes that monetary policy decisions alter the supply of loans by affecting the financial conditions of banks (Bernanke & Blinder, 1988; Disyatat, 2011). However, the reaction of banks to monetary shocks depends on their financial strength. In this regard, the credit supply of weaker banks, such as those that are smaller, less liquid or more poorly capitalised, is more sensitive to monetary impulses because these banks have more difficulties in obtaining loanable funds (Kashyap & Stein, 2000; Kishan & Opiela, 2000). Another important factor that can also affect the financial conditions of banks and the bank lending channel, which has received scant exploration, is the implementation of sustainable business models, which are becoming a key element in the strategies and practices of many banks.

The high pace of strategic and organisational changes in the current financial services sector is not only caused by the fundamental transformation in the institutional and competitive environment but also by the rapid expansion of technological innovations (Menshikova et al., 2017). The restructuring of the modern labour market and traditional human resources qualification requirements is to a large extent impacted by Industry 4.0 (Smirnova et al., 2019) that is directly connected with a transformation of knowledge sharing processes, data processing and integration and value orientation, which the companies consider essential for their success (Blštáková et al., 2020). Customer centricity, personalisation, mobility and agile corporate culture are becoming key factors to ensure an innovative pace of development in the digital environment (Ajupov et al., 2019). In this regard, the demand for highly educated specialists directly involved in customer service in banking and insurance institutions has been increasing especially as a lack of a qualified workforce is among the most important drivers for Industry 4.0 (Stentoft & Rajkumar, 2020).

According to the study by Ernst & Young entitled: “Global FinTech Adoption Index 2019”, the level of users taking advantage of FinTech services, expressed as a percentage of the digitally active population for 27 selected countries in 2019 presented the level of 64%. It is worth pointing out that for China this figure amounted to 87%, Great Britain 71%, Switzerland 64% and the USA 46% (Ernst & Young, 2019). As highlighted by Anderson (2015), people of different generations and demographic backgrounds incorporate new technology into their lives at different rates. This paper is focused on Millennials alone, also referred to as Generation Y. This generation includes people born in the period from 1980 to 1995. Millennials, along with Generation Z (also known as iGen and referring to people born in the years 1996–2010), belong to the generations which currently generate highly significant changes in the environment of modern financial institutions (Swacha-Lech, 2019).

In the 1970s, Milton Friedman has claimed that: “the only social responsibility of a company is the use of its resources together with the engagement in businesses that are meant to increase the profits, maintaining the rules of the game. This means to engage into an open and free competition, without any abuse or fraud.” And this is how, starting from the 70s, the “rules of the game” were known in business and the responsibility that triggers the community, a responsibility that the companies fully acknowledge and embrace. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) deals with strategies used by companies to develop their business in an ethical way, to respect the relation with the other members of the society. CSR can involve a range of partnerships with the local communities, investments with a real social impact of the corporations (education, art, and environmental protection), the development of the relations of the companies with the clients, employees and their families.

Payment account (PA, in plural PAs), as the most common type of the sight deposit, represents a financial product with the highest market penetration in the European Union (EU). The Czech Republic is not an exception. Finclusion study (The World Bank, 2018) showed that PA account penetration is as high as 81% of all citizens over age 15 in the Czech Republic. EU survey declared the penetration higher by two percent points concerning the population over age 15 in the Czech Republic (TNS opinion & social, 2016). In spite of a minor methodology difference, such as the inclusion of any financial institution or mobile-moneyservice provider account, it is evident that most of the population possess one or more PAs. EU survey (Eurostat, 2018a) confirmed that most of Czech Republic population aged 16 to 74 actively uses e-banking channel for electronic transactions with a bank for payment or for looking up account information. EU banking regulator acknowledged PA as the most widespread and therefore important retail financial product for EU consumers (European Banking Authority, 2016).

An important health financing issue facing Canada and other OECD countries (OECD, 2017) are the health consequences of obesity. Statistics Canada (2014) reports that 51.6% of adult Canadians were overweight or obese in 2009 compared to 53.6% in 2013. The proportion of Canadians who are overweight differs by sex, with 59.2% of Canadian males overweight in 2009 compared to 62% in 2013 and 43.9% of females overweight in 2009 compared to 45.1% in 2013. These increases have led to calls for policies to control obesity (see Clark et al., 2014). These rates of obesity are based on the body mass index (BMI) which is the ratio of weight (in kilograms) to the square of height (in meters). Cranfield (2007) uses the Canadian Community Heath Survey (CCHS) to examine the determinants of the body mass index (BMI) of Canadians.

Several factors may be earmarked as vital to smooth and successful working of a developed economy; and one of these factors is the financial system, which provides valuable services to the economy and its stability is always deemed imperative to the stability of the entire economy (e.g. Beck et al., 2014, p. 1-2). This laudatory statement is by no manner diminished by the fact that there is – at it happens – a scattered mosaic of opposing opinions to what extent a sound financial system is actually important to economic growth (Levine, 1997; Thiel, 2001). The key function of the financial system in an economy is “to channel savings to investment” (Thiel, 2001, p. 7), or – putting it differently – to connect agents with surplus funds to those who are in deficit, which are merely two different ways to describe the essence of financial intermediation. The definition is suggestive that financial intermediation should be assessed by comparing how surplus funds are matched against deficit needs.

Since the late 1980s, the Czech Republic has undergone the transformation process from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. The modernization of the country’s financial sector is a fundamental condition for economic growth. The beginning of the transformation was associated with a rapid increase in credit activity. There was a decrease in the growth rate in the second half of the 1990s, followed by a decrease in the volume of lending. The volume of lending has increased again and the number of ‘bad’ credits has increased also since 2000.

Tax systems of developed countries contain provisions that give a preferred status to housing and homeownership. A significant relief is provided especially by the combination of non-taxation of imputed rental income and mortgage interest payment deductibility. Real user costs of owner-occupied housing are reduced (see Poterba & Sinai, 2008) and thus a bias in favour of the homeownership is created when households are encouraged to buy rather than to rent their dwellings.

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) drew much attention globally as economic growth was followed by such social problems as an increasing gap between the rich and the poor, cultural conflicts, and environmental degradation. Having acknowledged the importance of the latter challenges, the United Nations officially launched the “Global Compact” project in 2000, thereby calling the enterprises for commitments towards social responsibility in the areas of human rights, labor standards, and environmental protection, among other issues. As an important actor in the global economic development, the banking sector also became aware of huge social costs associated with unsustainable economic growth, and recognized its responsibilities in such areas as an active reduction of social inequality and environmental degradation. Thus it is important to analyze the impact of commitments towards CSR upon banking performance.