Finding a better bank

The four biggest banks in the US - JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank - have over six trillion dollars of deposits. These four banks are also the biggest financiers of the fossil fuels industry.

I never thought about this when I opened my Wells Fargo account 30 years ago. I just loved their customer service and felt so valued as a customer. On the surface Wells Fargo is great, but underneath they are putting billions of dollars into fossil fuel financing and doing some really shady business practices. It’s time to put our money in a bank that’s closer aligned to our values so that the money we save can be used for better things.

We decided to move to Beneficial State Bank because it’s local and was recommended by a friend. Beneficial State Bank is a B Corp, a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, and owned by the not for profit Beneficial State Foundation. We’ll be much happier knowing that our savings are helping constructive businesses and non-profits improve our communities.

Opening the account was very easy. We just filled out some forms and uploaded scans of our IDs in their secure file transfer system. Everything was done online and only took a few days. Now we just have to update our direct deposits, transfer our money, and close the Wells Fargo accounts.

If you want to move your money to a better bank, check out Green America. They have a directory of banks and credit unions that have certifications or memberships in a number of different values driven organizations and helpful articles about how to switch banks.