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eBugle
WEBSITE
home |
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eBugle
Banking
Guide |
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This was one of the easiest of the eBugle guides to write because the situation is quite simple. There are only two banks you need to know about. All of the main stream high-street banks are owned by shareholders and are therefore only interested in money - not surprising really - they are banks! As such, they don't care how badly they treat customers as long as the customers don't feel badly treated enough to take their money elsewhere. They also don't care who they invest their/your money in, as long as they get maximum profits. This means that your money is being used to support arms manufacturers, nuclear power stations, deforestation and the major record labels responsible for most of the bilge in the charts these days - whether you like it or not.
Building societies (the ones that haven't turned into banks yet) are not owned by share holders. They are technically owned by the account holders (members) and therefore aim to offer the best rates of interest they can rather than the lowest they can get away with. However, they still don't tend to bother much with an ethical investment policy and they also have the financial burden of maintaining lots of buildings and staff (the branches).
Therefore what you need is a bank that isn't owned by shareholders and doesn't have the financial burden of running branches. Step in...
www.smile.co.uk
Smile is a branch of the Cooperative Bank. As a cooperative, the bank doesn't pay shareholders and doesn't have an over-paid board who decide their own ridiculously huge salaries. |
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FREE BOOZE!!!
At the time of writing, Smile is offering 12 bottles of wine to anybody opening an accout, subject to having �1,500 in it for a few weeks. |
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Alternatively... |
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...if you're looking to tuck some money away... |
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There is, however, a bank that pays slightly lower interest rates but does make the world a much better place. Rather than just avoiding investments in arms, oil, the Daily Mail, etc., it sets out to lend money to all sorts of good causes that may otherwise struggle to get funding. Examples include housing associations, community projects, and businesses that benefit people and/or the environment. There is even a specific bond that pays 4.5% interest (at time of writing) with all your money being invested in renewable energy. This obviously isn't as lucrative as the arms trade and therefore doesn't have such good rates of interest but your money will be doing more good (for a few measly pounds less interest) than just giving a few measly pounds to charity. Find out more at...
www.triodos.co.uk |
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