What is ethical banking?
Society is seeing a trend in improving ethics, generally in the world of business and finance in particular. Unity is a commercial bank with a social conscience. We go beyond most ethical banking options, where the goal is simply to have no negative impact, and instead we focus on delivering positive social impact, not simply maximising profit. This is known as our ‘double bottom line’ strategy.
We only lend to organisations and businesses who help create a better society and deliver positive impact through economic, community and environmental change.
The list of those we will categorically will not deal with is not exhaustive. There are industries and companies whose code of ethics does not match ours at the bank and do not receive investment from us, for example an organisation who tests its products on animals, is involved with human trafficking, drugs, child labour or arms dealing. An association with a bank that invests in contentious projects, or a bank that encourages clients who make their money from harmful activities, can be highly detrimental to the cause of a charitable, environmentally aware or socially progressive organisation.
As an ethical banking alternative, all our funding comes from customer deposits. The more deposits we receive, the more we can lend, the bigger impact we have. You can trust that your money never goes to a company or industry that you find unethical or dubious.
You can read more about what we actively participate in to have a positive social impact and project an example of social responsibility here.
