Social Works.
Its first social work was the Monte de Piedad, which here, as in other places, was for years the most important. Until well into the 20th century its social works had a clearly charitable and sporadic character. In 1922, 21,627.57 pesetas were dedicated to prizes and donations. In 1925, the chapter on "Beneficial-social action" appeared for the first time in its annual report , taking advantage of a fund created for this purpose the previous year. It distributed 7,050 pesetas in small amounts to help various entities: Civil Hospital, House of Mercy, Provincial Asylum, School Canteens; School of Arts and Trades, San Vicente de Paul Conferences, La Gota de Leche, Aguinaldo del Soldado; and for prizes at the children's festival. Of greater importance that year were the donations made on the occasion of his 75th birthday, 39,350.39 pesetas distributed as follows: 11,644.45 to pave San Prudencio Street; 20,000 to the School of Arts and Trades; 250 to the Little Sisters of the Poor and another 250 to the Oblates; 1,050 to buy a thousand loaves of bread to distribute among the poor of the city; 1,206 to celebrate masses for the soul of the founders of the Caja; and 4,949.94 for an extraordinary bonus given to the employees. This list says a lot about the mentality of the time and the social situation, when more was spent on masses than on bread for the poor. That year, 10 life pensions of 1.50 pesetas per day were also granted to 10 poor elderly people of both sexes over 75 years of age.
The work, more charitable than social, continued to flow along the same channels for a few years, although the number of institutions helped was increasing. It collaborated financially in the Tributes to Old Age, in the Livestock Competitions of Salvatierra, and increased the prizes to the depositors, whose amount (5,000 pesetas) became prizes for the Day of Savings after the prohibition of the former in 1925. The workers' crisis of the thirties forced the start-up of the Economic Canteens, which the Bank and the City Council supported, providing aid to the unemployed workers. In 1931 it bought the land of the Mendizorrotza stadium, renting the football field to Deportivo Alavas, and keeping the rest of the facilities. During the war, aid defined as "patriotic donations" was normal.