The Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne Become Presenting Partners of the Torch Relays for the Olympic & Paralympic Games Paris 2024

By becoming a partner of the Paris 2024 Torch Relays, Groupe BPCE and its two major retail banking networks, Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne, will be sharing the thrill of the Olympic & Paralympic Games with the largest possible number of people living in regional France. The Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne share the same goal of enabling their customers, cooperative shareholders, employees, and members of the general public to play an active part in the celebrations organized in the French regions.

The Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne will be helping to promote the Torch Relays in coordination with the Organizing Committee of the Olympic & Paralympic Games Paris 2024 and local players, and will be contributing to the sporting and cultural events organized at each stage of the Relays. The Paris 2024 Torch Relays will give a chance to celebrate the rich diversity of the different French regions by focusing attention on local savoir-faire and iconic sites. These popular events, accessible to all and complying with environmental criteria, will provide opportunities to respond to key societal issues such as the development of sporting activities and social inclusion through sport. The route of the relays, currently being drawn up by local authorities, the French State, and Paris 2024, will be announced in the third quarter of 2023.

Since January 2019, Groupe BPCE – along with its different brands: Banque Populaire, Caisse d'Epargne, Crédit Coopératif, Casden Banque Populaire, Banque Palatine, Natixis and Oney Bank – have been premium partners of the Olympic & Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The Group's companies have set up a support program for athletes to the effect that nearly 200 athletes and para-athletes have benefited from a sponsorship scheme to give them the best possible chance of being selected, to help them prepare for the upcoming 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games in Paris, and to plan their future lives once their sporting careers have come to an end. The different banks in Groupe BPCE have also been partners of French professional and amateur sport for more than 30 years: Banque Populaire is involved in sailing and surfing while the Caisse d'Epargne sponsors handball, basketball, and 3x3 basketball. The Group has also been a partner of the French National Olympic and Sport Committee (CNOSF) since 2010.

Jérôme Terpereau, Head of Retail Banking and Insurance of Groupe BPCE, said: “A strong regional presence is central to the identity and history of the Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne. By becoming Presenting Partners of the Torch Relays, Groupe BPCE’s two major retail banking networks are reasserting their commitment to serving the interests of regional France. Our banks will be mobilizing their efforts along with their customers, cooperative shareholders, employees, and the general public to contribute to the celebrations to be staged in the French regions.”

Benoît Gausseron, Groupe BPCE Head of Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games, said: “In its capacity as a premium partner of the Olympic & Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Groupe BPCE today is an active and committed partner of the Games. The desire of the Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne to become Presenting Partners of the Torch Relays is a further illustration of this commitment. We are proud to be playing an active role in the organization of this event with a view to sharing the excitement of the Games and the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic movement as closely as possible with the French people.”

Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic & Paralympic Games, made the following statement: “The Torch Relays, which are organized just once every hundred years in our country, are unique moments that will enable millions of French people to enjoy a foretaste of our Games. As the first premium partner of Paris 2024 and involved in the project from the very outset, Groupe BPCE is now playing a major part in the Torch Relays! Groupe BPCE will be working alongside us to make the different stages in the Torch Relays a series of festive and popular events involving a very broad spectrum of French people above and beyond the towns and cities chosen to host the competitions, and highlighting the rich diversity of our country.”

View the computer animation of the BPCE Towers illumination designed to celebrate our status as Presenting Partners of the Torch Relays: https://youtu.be/-Nm9XFO8P_s