Partnership and learning
We participate in various projects that encourage development and progress in society. We provide financial support for various projects through grants from our Community Fund and award scholarships. We publish an extensive selection of content on the economy and raise awareness about financial matters.
Funds and grants
We have established funds to support projects that we consider likely to enrich Icelandic society for the future. Special judging panels, made up of experts in each field many of whom are independent of the Bank, review the applications and the application process is both transparent and professional.
Community Fund and scholarships
Landsbankinn's Community Fund is key to our support for the community. In 2022, scholarships were awarded in the amount of ISK 6 million and community grants in the amount of ISK 15 million - a total of ISK 21 million. Since 2011, 430 projects have received grants from the Community Fund in the total amount of ISK 210 million. Community grants are intended as support for projects, including by humanitarian and charitable organisations, projects in the fields of education, research and science, projects connected to culture and the arts, preventative measures and youth activities, and environmental and nature conservation.
Sustainability Fund
Six interesting projects were awarded grants from Landsbankinn’s Sustainability Fund in the total amount of ISK 10 million. This is the initial allocation from the Fund. The Sustainability Fund is linked to two of the UN Sustainable Development Goals that we at Landsbankinn are working systematically towards: No. 13, on climate action and no. 9, on industry, innovation and infrastructure.
Culture and the arts
Providing support for a wide array of cultural events, festivals and musicians allows the Bank to combine social responsibility and its endeavour to actively promote art and culture in Iceland
Reykjavík Pride
We support the campaign for LGBTQI+ rights and Landsbankinn has been a proud sponsor of Reykjavík Pride since its inception. Together with Reykjavík Pride, we've established the Pride Parade Fund, which provides financial support to individuals and smaller groups who participate in the Pride Parade.
The Árni Magnússon Institute
We support the project “In the footsteps of Árni Magnússon in the New World”. The project sets out to record manuscripts in public and private collections in both Canada and the US in a database on the website handrit.is. The database ensures scholarly access to information about Icelandic manuscripts in the New World and provides new options to undertake comparative studies.
Iceland Airwaves
We have been a proud supporter of Iceland Airwaves for several years and have gotten into gear for the festival by creating new videos featuring promising musicians. In 2022, we worked with Kusk, Superserious and Una Torfa. The resulting videos can be viewed on Landsbankinn’s Airwaves site.
Menningarnótt - Reykjavík Cultural Night
We have been an active participant in Reykjavík Cultural Night from the beginning and the Bank is a sponsor of the festival. We have focused on ensuring that financial support directly benefits artists and groups organising events for Reykjavík Cultural Night. Our Reykjavík Culture Night Fund, a collaboration with Höfuðborgarstofa, supports original and special ideas. This time around, 22 projects received grants from the Reykjavík Culture Night Fund.
Aldrei fór ég suður festival
We are one of the main sponsors of rock festival Aldrei fór ég suður, held in Ísafjörður every Easter. Landsbankinn has supported the festival since 2010 as part of our efforts to actively foster the grassroots music scene in Iceland.
Innovation and education
We publish several educational and informative articles on private finances to our website. In these articles, the Bank’s employees discuss various topics related to finances and offer good advice. These articles are aimed at various age groups and focus on different life events.
Financial instruction
We are happy to participate in financial education and in promoting financial literacy. We focus on financial instruction at upper secondary school level, with the aim of boosting students’ financial literacy. This instruction is available to all upper secondary schools and is carried out in collaboration with the schools' representatives.
We are also an active participant in the project Fjármálavit, which is educational material in financial literacy for older elementary school students. The project is under the auspices of the Icelandic Financial Services Association and the National Association of Pension Funds in collaboration with members.
Gulleggið innovation competition
We sponsor Gulleggið, an annual innovation competition hosted by Klak. The key goal of the competition is to create a platform for young entrepreneurs to practice and gain experience of shaping new business ideas and operating a company. As part of the competition, participants are offered courses, advice and specialist assistance with everything from shaping a business idea to budgeting to communication with investors.
Future Programmers
The Future Programmers Fund is a social initiative designed to promote and increase interest in programming and the effective use of equipment in domestic schools. The Fund provides financial support for schools to provide teachers with programming and technical education, for the purchase of smaller equipment for teaching purposes and donates used computer hardware. Landsbankinn is one of the Fund's patrons.
Sports and youth activities
We are very interested in supporting sports and youth activities throughout Iceland. The Bank’s branches do so through direct partnership agreements with sports clubs and organisations in their local communities and we also partner with various associations that operate across Iceland. We focus on support for children and youth activities in such partnerships.
Skólahreysti - Fit for School
We are the main sponsor of Skólahreysti, a sports tournament for elementary schools, and an active supporter of the competition. The aim of Skólahreysti is to encourage kids to participate in a comprehensive sports experience based on the tenets of physical education. The competition was held for the eighteenth time in 2022. We got to see four new national records and, in the end, Flóaskóli emerged victorious after exciting finals in Mýrin.
Chess tournament Friðriksmót
The country’s strongest rapid chess tournament, Landsbankinn’s Friðriksmót – the Icelandic rapid chess tournament – was held in the Bank’s Austurstræti branch in December. This was the nineteenth Friðriksmót jointly organised by Landsbankinn and the Icelandic Chess Federation in honour of Friðrik Ólafsson, Iceland’s first Grandmaster.
Football Association of Iceland
We sponsor the Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ). Landsbankinn provides financial support for development of Icelandic football country-wide, for all youth national teams and the A-level men's and women's teams. In 2022, we celebrated the achievements of the national women’s team in the European Women’s Championship by shining a light on current members of the team and their forerunners.
In recent years, Landsbankinn and KSÍ have presented a new award to players in the junior leagues throughout Iceland, the Politeness Prize. This prize is intended to encourage honourable conduct and decorum in players and others involved in matches.
Collaboration with institutions
Landsbankinn’s strong collaborative efforts with Icelandic industry aim to promote value creation, competition and improve daily life.
Svanni - Women's Loan Guarantee Fund
We support Svanni - Women's Loan Guarantee Fund. Svanni issues guaranteed loans to companies that are majority-owned by women. The purpose of the Fund is to boost industry and encourage innovation. Svanni has for many years partnered with Landsbankinn as a credit institution.
Icelandic Student Services and the University of Iceland Student Council
We have collaborated successfully with both Félagsstofnun stúdenta (Icelandic Student Services) and the University of Iceland Student Council. Together, we have worked on various initiatives and hosted joint events.
Háskólasjóður Eimskipafélagsins Fund
Twelve PhD students at the University of Iceland received grants from the Háskólasjóður H/f Eimskipafélags Íslands Fund in 2022. The Fund is managed by Landsbankinn. It was created in memory of Icelanders who emigrated to the USA and Canada and aims to support research students at the University of Iceland.
Cluster initiative in tourism
We have participated in a tourism cluster initiative since the project was launched in 2012. Key companies in the travel industry, public entities and companies in tourism support branches or collaborative sectors all join forces in the cluster. Its key goal is to boost competitiveness and value-creation in the travel sector.
The Fintech Cluster
We are one of the founding members of the Fintech Cluster, alongside 62 other companies, universities, organisations and other entities. The aim of the Fintech Cluster is to promote innovation in finance and work to improve and facilitate business transactions of all kinds.
Bergið headspace
As in previous years, Landsbankinn has made a donation to a good cause in the name of all Exceptional Companies recognised by Creditinfo. This year, the donation of ISK 4 million went to Bergið headspace.
Economic Research
The Bank’s Economic Research department analyses and publishes content on economic affairs. Varied content is published to the Bank’s website and as a podcast, in addition to which the department organises meetings, both in-house and out. The department plays a key role in shaping Landsbankinn's stance on developments and outlook in the economy, both domestically and abroad.
Economic Research was prolific in 2022 and published over 250 pieces. The department's analysts were prominent in media and were consulted on such topics as inflation, policy rate hikes and developments in the real estate market.
Podcast on the economy
The financial market, business and industry, and various facets of the economy are the subject of Landsbankinn’s accessible podcast. The topics generally reflect issues that are current at each time. The real estate market, tourism, interest rates, inflation, sustainability, climate change and the war in Ukraine were all among topics in 2022. The podcast also provided a detailed review of the macroeconomic and inflation forecasts published by Economic Research in May and October. The podcast in intended to boost interest in economic affairs and share information in an accessible manner.
Strong economic analysis and publication
Hagsjá is an e-zine comprised of short articles published 1-3 times per week. The Hagsjá is published to Landsbankinn’s website, sent to a mail list with an extensive readership and is often the focus of media coverage. The articles discuss the economy, State finances, the real estate market, inflation outlook, tourism and more, analyse newly published statistics and contain forecasts. In Vikubyrjun, a short e-zine published every Monday, Economic Research reviews the past week and discusses the coming week on markets, publication of statistics, financial statements and more.
Macroeconomic and inflation forecast
The largest single event on Economic Research's calendar in 2022 was the publication and presentation of its macroeconomic and inflation forecast for 2022-2025. The forecast was presented at a well-attended meeting in Harpa Conference Centre, which was also streamed live, and the forecast published online. Following Economic Research's presentation, a panel discussed the labour market in the build-up to collective bargaining agreements.
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