Solid support around the country

DesignMarch  

Landsbankinn is happy to sponsor DesignMarch and participates in the festival in various ways. This year we hosted several events at our headquarters in Reykjastræti, including a conference on funding of design. The event Young talents of fashion design combined fashion, music, architecture and business in a celebration of innovation and design. In the build-up to the festival, we visited seven designers to gain insight into the projects they were working on and posted videos from the visits.  

Reykjavík Pride  

We support the campaign for LGBTQIA+ rights and Landsbankinn has been a proud sponsor of Reykjavík Pride since its inception. Nine entries receive grants from the Pride Parade Fund of Reykjavík Pride and Landsbankinn which provides financial support to individuals and smaller groups who participate in the Pride Parade.  

Reykjavík Culture Night  

We have been a key supporter of Reykjavík Cultural Night from the beginning and a sponsor of the festival. Our Reykjavík Culture Night Fund, a collaboration with Höfuðborgarstofa, supports original ideas. This year, 24 exciting projects received grants from the Culture Night Fund of Landsbankinn and the City of Reykjavík. We also invited guests to participate in an exciting tour of the art in Reykjastræti 6 and hosted a series of exciting events at Hörputorg along with our neighbours. 

The Árni Magnússon Institute  

In 2024, the project “In the footsteps of Árni Magnússon in the New World”, which the Bank has supported, came to an end. The aim of the project was to record manuscripts in public and private collections in both Canada and the US in a database on the website handrit.is. The database has been completed and includes thousands of images of Icelandic manuscripts and letters that the public in Canda and the US can now view for the first time. The database is available in both Icelandic and English and ensures scholarly access to information about Icelandic manuscripts in the New World and provides new options to undertake comparative studies.  

Aldrei fór ég suður festival  

Landsbankinn is one of the main sponsors of rock festival Aldrei fór ég suður, held in Ísafjörður around Easter. Landsbankinn has been a sponsor of the festival since 2010 as part of our efforts to actively foster the grassroots music scene in Iceland. 

Ljósanótt - Night of Lights 

Landsbankinn is a main sponsor of the Night of Lights. The festival has been held in Reykjanesbær since the year 2000. General public participation has increased steadily and one of the main aims of the festival is to be a platform for people to create, entertain others and be entertained.  

Útrás concert series 

In winter 2024-2035, Landsbankinn is working with Harpa Concert Hall & Conference Centre, Reykjavík Music City and broadcaster Rás 2, to organise a concert series dedicated to the grassroots of Icelandic music, across musical genres. This initiative improves access by the grassroots scene and up-and-coming artists to both facilities and audiences, and in so doing boost diversity. Another goal is to create an opportunity for music lovers to hear varied, new Icelandic music performed under optimal conditions in Iceland’s main concert hall. 

Landsbankinn’s gallery website 

We launched Landsbankinn's new and interesting gallery website on Reykjavík Culture Night. Its aim is to open access to the Bank’s artwork to the general public. In this first version of the website, we focus on the pieces on display in the Bank’s headquarters at Reykjastræti 6. The gallery website was developed by Sara Karen Thórisdóttir, a Web Editor at Landsbankinn, as part of her master’s course in Applied Studies in Culture and Communication at the University of Iceland. 

Financial instruction  

We contribute to boosting financial literacy by offering financial instruction to students at upper secondary schools. 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 - Icelandic Startups. The key goal of the competition is to create a platform for 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. In 2024, the top 10 teams were invited to give their elevator pitches to employees in Reykjastræti. 

Future Programmers  

The Future Programmers Fund is a social initiative to promote and increase interest in programming and 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.  

Instructional meetings 

The Bank has hosted informative meetings on various topics in several locations around the country. Nearly 200 people attended a successful event on scaling businesses held at Landsbankinn in Reykjastræti. Meetings focused on cybersecurity and pension savings have also been popular, as have meetings on the real estate market and refinancing. We also hosted meetings in Polish where topics included savings, housing, pensions and cybersecurity. 

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 20th time in 2024. The competition was fierce this year, with Flóaskóli finally emerging victorious.  

Chess tournament Friðriksmót  

The country’s strongest rapid chess tournament, Landsbankinn’s Friðriksmót – the Icelandic rapid chess tournament – was held at the Bank’s headquarters at Reykjastræti in December. Landsbankinn and the Icelandic Chess Federation have been co-hosts of Friðriksmótið, held in honour of Friðrik Ólafsson, Iceland’s first Grandmaster, for over two decades. The Icelandic Blitz Chess Championship was held at Bankinn vinnustofa, located in the Landsbankinn building in Selfoss.  

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 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.  

Icelandic Student Services and the University of Iceland Student Council  

We have collaborated successfully with both Félagsstofnun stúdenta and the University of Iceland Student Council. Together, we have worked on various initiatives and hosted joint events, including the educational event “Fyrirtækið ég!” held at Háskólatorg.  

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.  

Háskólasjóður Eimskipafélagsins fund  

The Board of Directors of Eimskip University Fund awarded ISK 134.4 million in grants to PhD students at the University of Iceland in 2024. 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. While the Board of the Fund determines the amount for allocation each year, grant allocation is coordinated by the Board of Directors of the University of Iceland Research Fund. Since regular allocations from the Fund began in 2006, total allocation amounts to ISK 1.8 billion, ISK 500 million thereof allocated to the construction of Háskólatorg in 2006 and 2007. 

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 Iceland Ocean Cluster 

The Bank partnered with the Iceland Ocean Cluster in 2024. The partnership aims to support increased value creation in the blue economy. The focus will be on supporting start-ups developing solutions to challenges faced by more established businesses, as well as fostering entrepreneurs who create value from what was previously discarded. Landsbankinn will contribute to the project as a sponsor, with the Bank’s Fisheries Team providing advisory services to entrepreneurs.  

Krýsuvíkursamtökin - exceptional company 

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, goes to Krýsuvíkursamtökin.  

Action against cybercrime 

We have actively shared information and educated the public about cybersecurity for several years. Throughout the year, we wrote educational articles for our own platforms, and the Bank's experts participated in interviews and were active in public discussions. We hosted numerous educational sessions on cybersecurity, including events at the Bank's headquarters in Reykjastræti, as well as in Reykjanesbær, Akureyri, and Selfoss. A Bank expert also gave a presentation at a conference organised by the Icelandic Council on Aging, provided training for welfare department staff at the City of Reykjavík, and visited community centres and assisted living facilities for the elderly. This year, we also opened a fraud hotline, which operates daily from 9:00 to 23:00. Through this service, Bank employees assist customers in responding to various fraud attempts. 

Access to banking service 

A special domain dedicated to Polish was added to Landsbankinn's website during the year: landsbankinn.pl. Landsbankinn’s app is available in three languages: Icelandic, English and Polish. We continue to offer varied other content in English and Polish with the aim of contributing to equal access to financial services and education. Special emphasis has been placed on sending urgent notifications, such as concerning fraud attempts, simultaneously in all three languages. By offering accessible material in several languages, we also promote inclusion, embrace diversity and increase awareness about financial matters.