Ethical banking

[Grockle]

Where do I start? I'm with NatWest but often think I should probably look into them. But then I think that all large corporations are likely to have interests that I do not like.

Who do you bank with & why?

I agree that all large corporations are likely to have dodgy dealings. I am with Co-operative, who have an OK ethical policy.

Ethical Consumer have an ethical league table of bank accounts. Co-op come out near the top. NatWest are at the bottom.

Thank you. I figured the Co-op would be one of the better ones. I have no doubt that Natwest are near the bottom.

Maybe I need 2 accounts -my natwest one so I can still cash cheques but a more ethical one for my salary & direct debits etc.

Great link, btw.

I bank with smile (Coop) because of their ethical policy.

Why do you need a NatWest account to cash cheques?

I don't need Natwest, I just need a bank that has branches locally. How do you cash cheques if you have an online only bank?

Sorry, daft questions but I have no idea.

With the Smile accounts, you can either send them the cheques in the post or pay in at Co-op or Brittania branches.

Yeah, we just post cheques to them, never had a problem. Their online customer service is good too. Haven't needed to go into a branch in forever.

With the Co-op bank you can also pay in cheques via your local post office (they supply you with envelopes for this purpose).

I would be wary of putting my money into Co-op at the moment given their downgrade to junk status by Moody's.

Especially as their review is not expected to be published until August when they will release their half year results (see here

The Banking Act 2009 has provision to allow Cyprus style bail-ins or unsecured depositor hair cuts along with new EU legislation in the pipeline see here.

Hmm, I often have to pay in cheques written in dollars. It often causes a problem even when I do it in person. I didn't know that about co-op. Does that include smile then?

Deposits are guaranteed up to £85k per person though.

True, but in Cyprus there was a maximum cash withdrawal of only ?100 a day for a while (now ?300) and capital controls are still in place (no cashing cheques, maximum transfer ?5000 a month, no new bank accounts).

If a similar thing happened with Co-Op this would make life very difficult if you needed access to more funds (just watch some of the videos of cypriots talking about their experiences). Your money would be covered under the FSCS, but would you be able to get to it as and when you needed it?