Ethical banking

conradmum

I just replied to a question on another forum about ethical banking and I thought you guys might be interested to know of these people:

http://www.triodos.co.uk/

They are very ethical but not well known.

speff_2

Well, given that my new credit card is apparently backed by one of the worst corporations (ethically speaking) in the world, I might need to switch bank accounts to even things out...

Stuart_W

The Ecology Building Society are pretty good too - they offer mortgages on properties other lenders won't touch when there are ecological reasons (restoration of old property etc) and help many ecofriendly businesses get off the ground - and their office has grass growing on the roof (an obvious reason for joining, then!!)

https://www.ecology.co.uk

ailuro2

smile.co.uk are my bank of choice- they , as far as I can tell, do not do business with anyone who is ethically unsound yet still manage to offer decent interest rates.
Their parent company co-operative bank/ CIS have the same ethical stance, and for each year we have our mortgage there the plant a number of trees to help offset our carbon emissions.

Their building in Manchester has been clad 40 storeys high in photovoltaics, the biggest solar project in the UK. I like it!!

Can't find any mention of interest rates in the Triodos site yet.Hmm. I do prefer a big box to click and tell me how much interest I would earn on my money.

rag_doll

Have had a current account with Smile for over 3 yrs, have had savings with Triodos for a year, both excellent & I'd highly recommend.

lifebegins

Is there a "league table" of how ethical/ unethical the various financial institutions are?
Thanks for the tip on Triodos, and I'm already aware of Smile, but have no idea how "bad" my credit card providers are etc. Does anyone know of a website where this is listed?

rag_doll

lifebegins wrote:

Is there a "league table" of how ethical/ unethical the various financial institutions are?
Thanks for the tip on Triodos, and I'm already aware of Smile, but have no idea how "bad" my credit card providers are etc. Does anyone know of a website where this is listed?

You might like to try www.ethiscore.org click on 'Free Trial Reports' drop down list on left & select Banks (internet banking)

lynzpower

triados mortgages and savings plans were horrendous rates when I looked into it, i think my mortgage was quoted almost 8%. needless to say, i went with the abbey at 4.27% I think.

I had a current account with co-op. I was a bit pi55ed with them TBH. I have a seperate account for the mortgage, bills etc to go out of that I SO cash into. When I opened it they said what overdraft do you want? I said I dont want one. they said you have to have one jsut have £100. i said OK, they charged me 15 for the privilidge, of setting it up. i reasoned with them there was no way around it etc, so I swallowed the fee, 6 months later with no notice they closed the OD off, ( not mismanaged account) bouncing my mortgage. when I phoned they said, oh you can have it back, but itll cost you £15. take note Co op overdrafts are temporary.

I moved to smile, and thats been great so far. they are good on the phone, website striaghtforward. theres usually a 12 bottles of wine deal kicking about from time to time too for opening.

i have my insurances with CIS, ( co-op arm ) and they were cheapest and remained cheapest for 2 years by about 20per month. V Comprehensive cover too, with legal & covered for lodgers as standard.

Destined_to_be_skint

I'm with smile too and I've been very happy with them.

Lynzpower - Outrageous about the Co-op! Not exactly what I would call ethical behaviour towards their customers!

Petal_3

I think I read somewhere on here that Smile make donations to the Labour Party? If that's the case I s'pose it would be OK with some and not with others...:D

~x~

Sam_Bee

Triodos are excellent for Loans & Support for Small Business. I had excellent support from them even though they turned me down for a loan as the nature of the business I'm setting up wasn;t ethical enough for them! (Ethical Tour Operator).

Co-op are rubbish. No support, no business banking managers. Turned down without having anyone to speak to because their Skelmersdale Underwriters Unit was too busy. They do not practise what they preach.