Today, there are three channels for solidarity savings.
The first is through solidarity employee savings. All French citizens can save in what are called solidarity funds, where part of the fund will finance projects with a strong social utility.
There is also the banking and insurance channel. One can save in solidarity savings products through their bank or insurance, where a variety of products exist, such as sharing accounts. This simply means contractually agreeing that a portion of the income from the account will be donated to an association of their choice.
The third channel is what we call solidarity shareholding. The saver directly takes social shares, investing directly in social enterprises that open their capital to citizens. In these companies, you will find a variety of actors addressing different issues: inadequate housing, organic farming, renewable energies. These are often cooperatives and players in the social and solidarity economy.
To assist us in our choices, FAIR (Financing, Supporting, Impacting, Bringing Together) has been managing a private savings label, the Finansol label, for 25 years, which certifies financial products that are solidarity savings products. This helps savers recognize different solidarity savings products and provides a guarantee of transparency and social utility of the financial product.
In 2023, solidarity savings have concretely enabled more than 2000 people to be housed in decent living conditions, converted over 2600 hectares to organic farming, and supported farmers transitioning to organic practices. Additionally, it has financed development, as part of the funding is directed towards agricultural cooperatives in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, to support development through microfinance, for example.
