Erste Group should start a completely new materiality analysis, where all stakeholders (not only customers + employees) will be considered.

Their impact mainly relates to their business and looks at a much too narrow, very strong inside-out perspective. Their activities, however, have a much broader impact than they see (ethical blindness)

Only partial consideration of environmental aspects, now it is rather promotional/commercial. Honest sustainability with a much higher level of commitment is necessary in today's world and pays off if doing it right

Rethink the structure of the report and the company structure. Anchoring responsibilities more firmly, so that honest commitment becomes apparent. Show its commitment clearly in the report for different groups (investors, politics, …)

They urgently need to work on the Management Approach! The report gives hardly any information about responsible departments and persons, the Group Sustainability Office is only mentioned once. The only contact information is a general e-mail address

An interactive, shortened, more modern and graphically enhanced online version with interactive tools would be a good way to address private customers as well.

The various stakeholders should be presented, described and above all be prioritized in more detail. In addition to internal stakeholders, the report concentrates mainly on customers, but does not appear to address them first.

While the report is very text- and fact-based, there is a clear lack of information on the measurability of objectives, on time periods and on KPIs.

They should shorten the report, it’s very long and very hard to read and to stick to it – although a lot of information is given, what is necessary, they should try to keep it shorter

Implement something appealing for the reader (pictures, links, features) - INTERACTIVITY

They should mention and priories more in detail the different stakeholders of the company

The measurability of the KPIs and objectives should be tracked

There is a need for optimization regarding the definition of goals and the KPIs. The company should describe the goals for each material topic in a transparent way.

It would be recommended that the CSR report either be separated from the annual report or that the chapters of CSR are better highlighted/structured. Furthermore, an interactive online version with illustrations should be integrated.

The stakeholder analysis as well as the communication with them should be explained in more detail. Furthermore, a stakeholder specific approach would help to reach the different stakeholder in a more personalized way.

Erste Bank has to work on its management approach! The exact structures, processes and responsible persons for sustainable management should be specified. They should define at least one person who appears namely in the report as a contact person.