Wednesday, 3 October 2012

The Rise and Rise of Ethical Banking



There is frequently lots of talk around consumers saying they want businesses to be more ethical but when it comes to the crunch, do little to act on it.

It was therefore interesting to see stats published last month showing that the Co-op Bank has witnessed a 97% increase in customers requesting to switch to their current accounts in 2012.  And the mutually owned Nationwide also reported a huge 85% increase in new account enquiries -  signalling a shift in previously inactive consumer behaviour.

Louis Brooke from the Move Your Money Campaign says “Since January we estimate that half a million people have switched their current accounts to ethical alternatives” marking what appears to be a consumer movement towards ethical banking.

Moving to ethical finance is one of the ways a consumer’s choice can have the biggest positive impact with finance being so closely tied to all other elements of the economy. The Independent columnist, Simon Birch, predicts that this current revolution could well prove to be a significant moment for the wider ethical consumer movement.

Perhaps this will be the first wave of consumers really putting their money where their mouth is.


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