If there is one thing in savings banks that has remained the same over the years, it has been their social work. The advent of democracy and the beginning of the so-called Welfare State changed the aims of some of these projects, which had begun in the first third of the 20th century. Charity work continued for many years, for example, the inauguration of the new headquarters in 1949 was done by granting various donations to the parish priests of the capital to help the needy in their parishes.
In 1955, the Monte de Piedad was still necessary and continued to receive subsidies from the Caja; the Colonia de Sukarrieta, the Centro de Asistencia a la Mujer y al Niño, which was the institution that inherited the Montepío de la Mujer que Trabaja, the Beneficencia Domiciliaria and the Gota de Leche, the Residencia Femenina Villa de Bilbao, the Casa del Niño de Bermeo, and the Sala-Cuna de San Antonio were maintained with their initial work. In 1949 the Bernardino de Garizar nursery was opened in the San Francisco neighbourhood, modelled on the Bermeo nursery; the Hogar de Retiro y Recreo (Home for Retirement and Recreation). In the educational and cultural area, the previous initiatives also survived: circulating libraries, scholarships for students and the school cinema. In the health area, the contributions to the Eliseo Migoya Cardiology Institute, in whose building the Infants' Clinic was also installed, became more important.
The increase in profits has increased the percentage of money invested in the important social work of this Fund, even taking into account the inflation suffered over time. In 1941, 776,720.46 pesetas were invested in it; in 1950, 2,695,606.76; in 1970, 10,517,282; in 1980, 684,402,700; and in 1989, 11,400 million pesetas were invested. In the latter year, the welfare work of this savings bank was divided into welfare, cultural, educational, health, research and new construction areas, with institutions that had been created many years earlier continuing to exist.