Bank with your conscience

Well, there’s a lot been said about bankers in the last few years, much of it negative and with good reason. Tony Robinson asked if they were human in an excellent rant on Question Time. Manipulating the LIBOR is pretty egregious. It undermines the basis of truth behind our (formerly) well-regarded banks. It shows them to be self-interested liars and cheats.

Many of the huge numbers of people who work for banks are just doing their job, ticking along, feeding their families, not being evil. I have worked as a consultant inside many banks, and have also worked directly for one or two. The staff in banks are like workers everywhere; some good, some bad, some incompetent and some dazzling in their genius. Like all large companies.

At present, Barclays has covered itself in shame and I suspect that it’s merely the first name on the guilty sheet. However, I’m a Barclays customer. I have a couple of accounts with them. I use the current account daily.

I don’t think I can continue to be a customer of a bank whose behaviour is so reprehensible.

It would seem that the law cannot prosecute the offending parties within the bank, so I feel my only recourse is to leave the bank. I don’t need Barclays. I’m going to move somewhere more ethical, so I need to look at the company as well as the interest rates. I already have other current accounts that I can use, which will happen in the short term until I strike the right balance between ethics and savings.

If EVERYBODY did that, Barclays would no longer exist to be unethical.That would make a lot of people unemployed, including several friends and family members… but…

If EVERYBODY did that, banks such as the Co-op, Triodos Bank, The Ecology Building Society and the Charity Bank would grow large, and employ those ordinary employees that Barclays had to let go.

Ask yourself this; why do you bank with your current bank? Apparently, you are more likely to get divorced than change bank account – that’s why they pay good interest to kids. Get ’em young and get ’em hooked.

It’s SO easy to change your current account it’s amazing that more people don’t do it. Plenty of banks even pay you to move to them! You open an account with your new bank and ask them to move your account. They do it all – letter to your employer, direct debits, standing orders, everything. And they usually give you a (temporary) large overdraft to ensure you have no payment problems.

Bank with your conscience