Have you ever closed a current account or savings account for ethical reasons?

Mee

I'm debating whether to close bank accounts due to one banks decision to withdraw from a net zero group and another due to their US parent company withdrawing dignity and equality policies. 

wmb194

Mee said:

I'm debating whether to close bank accounts due to one banks decision to withdraw from a net zero group and another due to their US parent company withdrawing dignity and equality policies. 

Which banks? I’m guessing HSBC and Chase (JP Morgan)? 

Mee

wmb194 said:

Mee said:

I'm debating whether to close bank accounts due to one banks decision to withdraw from a net zero group and another due to their US parent company withdrawing dignity and equality policies. 

Which banks? I’m guessing HSBC and Chase (JP Morgan)? 

Yes, to the former. Would never bank with JPM.

blue.peter

No

If I took ethical issues into account, I don't think there'd be much choice left.

Even Nationwide is getting a bit iffy on that front. I guess I'd be left with Co-operative (which has now, I'm pleased to see, been sold by its private equity owners to Coventry BS) and Triodos. I haven't tried Triodos, but it's been reported on this forum that their service leaves quite a lot to be desired. That rules them out for me.

Much as I'd like a truly ethical bank, it's easier said than done - especially if, like me, you want to run more than one current account.

GreenScepter

One person's reason for a boycott may be one other person's incentive to join, especially in OPs scenario. If you want to boycott any company for the slightest disagreement you may as well live in a cave and become a hunter gatherer. That's the conclusion I arrived at long ago.

Voyager2002

I think that what matters is not salving your own conscience but encouraging the bank to mend its ways. Therefore, I suggest closing your account at a time when there is a fairly high-profile campaign against the bank in question. 

Sea_Shell

Considered it

I'm currently having this debate over my "investment" with Loanpad (P2P ISA) as they appear to be moving more and more to providing finance for HMO conversions.

Probably makes me a NIMBY, but I wouldn't want my neighbours houses sold to developers and converted...so why help facilitate them?

The jury's still out...

As for mainstream banks etc. I doubt they're transparent enough to make a judgement call on, same with ETFs.

wmb194

Mee said:

wmb194 said:

Mee said:

I'm debating whether to close bank accounts due to one banks decision to withdraw from a net zero group and another due to their US parent company withdrawing dignity and equality policies. 

Which banks? I’m guessing HSBC and Chase (JP Morgan)? 

Yes, to the former. Would never bank with JPM.

Goldman Sachs' Marcus? A few weeks ago I opened a good one year bond with it. Currently Chase has a one year 5% 'boosted' instant access saver offer for new customers that you're missing out on.

confederated

Yes

GreenScepter said:

One person's reason for a boycott may be one other person's incentive to join, especially in OPs scenario. If you want to boycott any company for the slightest disagreement you may as well live in a cave and become a hunter gatherer. That's the conclusion I arrived at long ago.

Indeed. I seem to be in a minority in that I would support banks with links to Israel and would ditch those supporting the misogyny and homophobia in many other Middle Eastern states. Many would do the opposite. Unfortunately we have a very confusing situation where those purporting to be feminists and LGBT allies are supporting the side which is neither. The ethical consumer has a very difficult time of it all. I would say that ethical banks are on something of a sliding scale. The 'best', Triodos, is one of the worst banks for all sorts of reasons. Just work your way down the list until you reach a compromise which is acceptable to you. Alternatively some of the newer banks haven’t (yet) soiled their hands so can be considered ethical.

eskbanker

confederated said:
I would say that ethical banks are on something of a sliding scale. The 'best', Triodos, is one of the worst banks for all sorts of reasons. Just work your way down the list until you reach a compromise which is acceptable to you.

A sliding scale effectively suggests measurement of one parameter, whereas it seems to me that quantifying ethical posture entails numerous different dimensions, so is more complex than that, i.e. it's more like a table than a list....

subjecttocontract

Good luck with closing an HSBC account. I wasted 10 minutes this morning getting nowhere with closing an unwanted savings account with them. While banks make it so, so difficult to close accounts I generally don't bother. Having a balance of zero usually gives the bank more problems than me. Let them suffer !