Eco-friendly, Conscious Banks for West Coast Friends

Photo by: Anna Shvets, Pixels

Photo by: Anna Shvets, Pixels

Although many of us spend significant amount of time trying to reduce our personal environmental footprint, we may not realize how much our personal banking actually contributes to our impact on the planet. Many banks and credit cards invest in fossil fuels, oil drilling, pipelines, and coal mines. I’ve spent the past few months researching and slowly transitioning away from banks that do not align with my values. In the process, I found a few national banks and credit cards that I feel comfortable partnering with, so I thought I’d share my findings. Feel free to share anything else in the comments that I might be missing!

  • Aspiration Bank

    • Personal Checking, Savings, Responsible Investing

    • Certified B Corp, 1% for the Planet

    • 100% committed to Clean Money — do not invest in fossil fuels, so your money won’t go towards projects like pipelines, oil drilling, and coal mines

    • Plant your Change — round up your purchases and donate to reforestation projects

    • Conscious Coalition Money Back — obtain money back on socially conscious spending and automatically offsets purchases of gasoline

    • Save in fees — no hidden fees, you pay what you believe is fair per month

  • Amalgamated Bank

    • Personal Checking, Savings

    • Certified B Corp

    • 100% committed to Clean Money - has a fossil fuel-free policy

    • “Give back Checking” — Will donate to a participating organization of your choice an amount equal to half the interest you earn from that account.

    • “Donate the Change” — Will donate 10 cents to the Frontline Workers Fund for every qualifying debit card purchase of $10 or more

    • Powered by 100% renewable energy, supports immigrants, affordable housing, and worker rights.

  • Beneficial State Bank

    • Personal Checking, Savings, Loans, Credit Cards

    • Certified B Corp, CDFI Partner

    • Finances community-based businesses, building long-term prosperity, and committing to the environment

    • The economic interest of Beneficial State Bancorp and Beneficial State Bank is owned by nonprofit organizations, with $0 going to profit-maximizing shareholders

  • BNP Paribas’s Bank of the West 1% for the Planet Checking

    • Personal Checking

    • Track the carbon impact of your debit card purchases

    • Donates 1% of our net revenue from the account to 1% for the Planet

    • See an estimate of your CO2 emissions for every purchase

  • Discover Bank

    • Personal Checking, Savings, Credit, Loans

    • American Express and Discover have a different business model, and don't seem to lend to oil & gas. They also don't appear to support the community.

  • American Express

    • Credit, Loans

    • American Express has a different business model, and doesn’t seem to lend to oil & gas. They also don't appear to support the community.

Interested in learning more about banks around the world that are committed to advancing positive change in the banking sector? Check out the Global Alliance for Banking on Values.

xx

Dana Jo