BNL, part of the BNP Paribas Group, continues developing solutions for the daily life of people and launches the “Prestito BNL W lo Sport” ("Hurray for Sport BNL loan"), a product to finance, in a sustainable way and with special conditions, the expenses to access sport training or to acquire equipment for all those who live sport as an important element in their life: not only athletes but also young people, families and university students, or those who simply do a sport in their free time.

In Italy*, in addition to 4.5 million registered athletes, more than 18 million people devote themselves on a regular basis to sport activities on an amateur level and 16 million do some physical exercise (like swimming, trekking or cycling) in their free time. For its value in the physical and psychological growth of the individual, sport practice is very common amongst young people and family plays a very influential role: if parents are sedentary, only four teenagers out of ten practice a sport, while in those families in which parents enjoy sport, the relationship is of eight out ten.

For families, practising a sport is demanding not only from a physical perspective, but also in terms of time and costs. The “Prestito BNL W lo Sport” ("Hurray for Sport BNL loan") was indeed born to help the dissemination and practice of sport, with the belief that a society that enjoys sport is also a healthier society. The loan meets the need to spread over the year the costs that normally are concentrated in autumn and that could entail budget difficulties. It is possible to get up to three thousand Euros with a particularly good interest rate (3.97% APR), without credit check costs and repayable within a maximum term of 12 months: for 1000 Euros, for example, the monthly instalment is 85.10 Euros and the total interest is 21.30 Euros, on a year-long loan.

The "Hurray for Sport BNL loan" is the result of the collaboration with CONI, with which the Bank has a strong relationship lasting for more than 70 years, and which, from this year, has become even stronger with the partnership for the Olympic Games of 2016 in Brazil. BNL and CONI share a history made of momentous events, such as the Rome Olympics of 1960 and the Football World Cup "Italia '90";

unique initiatives such as the sponsorship for the Winter Olympics at Nagano in 1998, or the "BNL Cerchi e stelle" (BNL Circles and Stars) project, supporting five female athletes of the Italian National team (Erica Alfridi, Deborah Gelisio, Josefa Idem, Ylenia Scapin e Alessandra Sensini) at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, to quote only the most significant. Furthermore, BNL is the partner of 44 Sport Federations and the Bank of the Italian Paralympic Committee and of the main Federations connected to it.

"In a changing world, our Sport activity is to make yours possible" is the catchphrase of the new campaign signed by the TBWA\Italia company. Creativity is aimed at highlighting, through images that bring together sport and daily life, the care shown by the bank for the spread of sport culture, but also the capacity of the Bank to create transparent products and services, which are practical and useful, making small and large projects happen in the everyday life of people.

"BNL & CONI - train our tomorrow" is, instead, the payoff of the campaign: a stamp of quality that will accompany all initiatives of the partnership between the Bank and CONI.

The media campaign approach is composed of a planning on the national press and by posters on the road and in the underground in Rome and Milan and in the BNL branches across Italy, together with the presence on the digital channels and social media of the Bank and on Twitter, with the hashtag #alleniamoildomani.

Finally, on the toll-free telephone number 800.98.99.99 and at the page coni.bnl,it, especially created for the initiative, it is possible to obtain all information on the product and book an appointment to discuss it further with a consultant at a BNL branch.