Ethical banking

Learn how to put your hard-earned cash into banking products and services that align with your personal ethics.

- RACHEL ALEMBAKIS

As more and more people look to align their financial decisions and products with their personal ethics, banks are responding with products and services that meet that demand.

As regulators, government and consumers grapple with the impacts of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, people are reconsidering their choices in banking.

“What’s really pleasing is that the concept of responsible/ethical investment is moving into the banking sector, and more and more banks are positioning themselves to respond to that demand from consumers who want to make sure that where they put their money is aligned with their own values,” says Simon O’Connor, chief executive officer of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA). RIAA operates a third-party certification standard for investment and banking products seeking to be certified as responsible based on organisational process and how the products are designed and sold.

“We’re seeing lots of specialised products to match the needs and values of the Australian people in the banking sector,” O’Connor says. “I think it’s really important that people do look under the bonnet of any ethical banking product to make sure it’s delivering on the commitments.”

Ethical banking

Several banks such as Bank Australia, Teachers Mutual Bank and Community Sector Banking are all predicated on an explicitly ethical mission statement and have developed products in line with those business strategies.