Safer savings and clearer consciences?

Janice Warman looks at two ‘ethical’ banks that are drawing customers away from the shamed high-street giants

The credit crunch left most of our major banks in disarray, not to say disgrace. But it has been remarkably good for some of their smaller competitors. ‘Ethical banks’ might once have been dismissed by the high-street giants as a benignly unthreatening fringe, just as ethical share investment was considered by mainstream investors to be little more than an eccentric luxury for trustafarians. But in terms of cash savings, as opposed to equities, the opportunity cost of choosing to go ethical varies widely — and may actually be zero. As a result, savers disenchanted by City greed, or simply disconcerted by the near-collapse of big banks that had always seemed so permanent, have been switching in significant numbers towards alternative providers such as the Co-operative Bank and Triodos.