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It’s easy to think carefully about what we do with our money without actually considering where the best place to keep it might be.  There are many banks and building societies which all seem to offer much the same thing – but rather than simply choosing them on the basis of location or because we’ve always used them, why not look into their ethical credentials more closely?

The ethical rating incorporates each institution’s customers too – so if a bank lends money to customers with a poor record in one particular area, that will be reflected in the bank’s rating.  It means that mutual building societies generally come out better: because they don’t have any shareholders they tend to offer better rates and many have no business customers so avoid funding unethical business practices.

Credit cards offer one way to take advantage of banks’ profits by directing commission to charity.  So long as you always pay off the full balance of your credit cards (and will therefore not be charged anything by the credit card provider), you can earn free money for a charity by using your card for purchases.  However banks usually associate high interest charges with these and you will not benefit from offers such as free balance transfers, so unless you pay off the balance each month these could end up costing you more than the charity gains.

Mortgages are one of the biggest earners for retail banks and building societies and it’s worth looking at the green options on the market.  Providers such as the Co-operative Bank and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society will provide carbon offsets for mortgages taken out with them to contribute towards the CO2 emissions produced from the household each year.  Ecology also provides funding for building projects that most other lenders might consider “unmortgageable”, such as developing a derelict building or constructing a property using traditional materials and methods.