Happy BTD: the (Feel-)Good Banks

Hola,

Money is Power. Or more accurately the power lies within the choice to wich bank/financial institution we give our money and what they going to do with it.
Some still believe it doesn't matter, because all the money would end up in Big Bad Banks anyway.
But thats not entirely correct.

Banking and finance as a profession have an intrinsic value chain which is interwoven
with the cycle of providing adequate financial products and services. As long as there are
no bank guidelines or criteria on ethical, social and sustainability aspects, the individual
co-worker or the lending committee are generally applying the ‘neutrality rule’,
excluding ethical, social and environmental considerations from the bankers´ decision
making. In reality however, money is not neutral and it involves responsibilities from its
inception and along the distribution chain where it has to do with value creation, not only
pure financial value but also human, social and environmental added values.

Ethical banking

one Good Bank
This but one example, as there exists a broad spectrum of ethical banks ranging from simply not investing in "harmful businesses" like big oil, arms trades, high risk stocks etc. to only financing socially and enviromental responsible companies and projects.

Today we can have it all, financial responsibility, complete transparency plus the convenience of a regular bank account and a good conscience.

Happy Bank Transfer Day

List of Ethical Banks:

Triodos Bank, Zeist, The Netherlands (also UK, Belgium, Germany and Spain)
Co-operative Bank, United Kingdom
Reliance Bank, United Kingdom
ShoreBank, USA
RSF Social Finance, San Francisco and New York, USA
Shared Interest, United Kingdom
Wainwright Bank, USA
Cultura Bank, Norway
GLS bank, Germany
JAK members bank, Sweden
Alternative Bank, Switzerland
Banca Popolare Etica, Italy
Crédit Coopératif, France
Citizens Bank, Canada
Bendigo Bank, Australia
Merkur Bank, Denmark
La Nef, France
Credit Agricole, France

reply to post by talklikeapirat


Or we could just move to local credit unions that help our local economy more than a bank would IMHO.

reply to post by ApolloBloodline


As i said. some believe that credit unions are still tied to the corrupt global banking system, hence the thread, to show that there are alternatives. If the credit union does just that, supporting local businesses, working under fair and transparent principles, it would have huge effect.

reply to post by talklikeapirat


I don't see how that is possible seeing as though credit unions are Not-For-Profit while banks are For-Profit 0_o Also, CU's keep the money within the community. A banks primary purpose is profit... that will ALWAYS put CU's above them in terms of who they care about IMHO. The "feel good" attitude of some of these banks appears to be a marketing scheme in my eyes... sort of them saying "Hey! we are the good guys now give us your money"

Here is some extra reading:

www.banklady.com...