I quit HSBC which had been my bank for forty years when I heard about their tax misbehaviour  but looking for a bank that really does behave well in the world is very difficult. Many invest in arms and fossil fuels, I quit HSBC when its tax misbehaviour came to light. And let’s not forget that it was the big banks that caused the near-collapse of the global financial system.  Royal Bank of Scotland was ordered to pay out over  fraudulent repackaging of mortgages.

So if like me you do not want to put your money with institutions that are quite clearly harmful to the wellbeing of the world, you need to research ethical banks and decide whether the alternatives they offer appeal. A good start is to check out the Choose (http://www.choose.net/money/guide/features/how-ethical-banking.html) website where they go through questions around how ethical your bank is.

I switched to Triodos Bank earlier this year having heard good things about it, and liking the fact that they only lend to businesses and organisations that promote or provide long-term positive change. For example a current project is tackling fuel poverty for the most vulnerable. They have supported the 14 years in development  Garth Wind Limited community renewable energy company which, at the start of 2017 was about to start producing energy.

The Charity Bank (https://charitybank.org) currently holds  top spot in the Good Shopping Guide index of ethical banks and building societies.  They describe their mission simply: ‘Charity Bank was always going to be different. What drives us isn’t profits, but a shared idea about the world we want to live in. We were founded to support charities with loans that they couldn’t find elsewhere and to show people how their savings could be invested ethically and in ways that would make them happy.