Question about ethical bank account

garfield33

Hi MSE-ers,
About 6 years ago I moved all my banking (current account, credit card, savings, cash ISA) to Smile as they had a good ethical rating, cashback on the credit card, and good interest rates on the ISA, savings and current account.

Since then I’ve moved my ISA elsewhere, but keep about £200 in my savings account for ‘emergencies’. My wages go into the current account, and I have several direct debits/standing orders set up.

All purchases go on my credit card, and are paid off in full each month from the current account, so I have never paid any interest on my credit card. I have an overdraft but have never used it, so have not had to pay any extra there either.

At most I have about £1200 in my current account, but that is usually in the lovely gap between pay-day and rent/credit card day. The average amount at any one time is about £400.

What I am wondering is… are Smile actually benefiting from having me as a customer? Or am I costing them money seeing as I don’t have that much money with them but they still have to run all the transactions? My main reason for choosing them was the ethical-ness, and if I’m costing them money, then it kind of defeats the point!

Thanks

agrinnall

It probably is costing them a small amount to service your accounts, although they may make enough on merchant charges for your credit card use to offset that. Your question and concern is an admirable stance, but if you are happy with the way Smile are running your account I would be inclined to leave it there anyway. Although I can see the attraction of moving a loss-making account to a 'nasty' bank!

BrandNewYear

#1st World Problems

garfield33

Thanks agrinnal, I know it's not as pressing as a lot of people's questions on these boards, but I was curious trying to live a good life and all that!

dr_adidas01

garfield33 wrote: »

Thanks agrinnal, I know it's not as pressing as a lot of people's questions on these boards, but I was curious trying to live a good life and all that!

The road is paved with good intentions and look how many of those turned to bad things.

If this is all you have to worry about in your life whether your costing your bank money, then I seriously think you need to get out into the real world and smell the roses. There are people out there who have far more serious problems to deal with than "Am I costing my bank money, for them to run my account!"

garfield33

Dr Adidas, at no point did I claim it was a problem. I was just curious. Understanding how the world works can only be a good thing.