Student Finance Overview
If you buy Fairtrade goods, believe in human rights, or are concerned about climate change -
- put your money where your mouth is and open an ethical bank account too.
Financial institutions make all sorts of offers to get students through their doors, from discounts to vouchers to bags of freebies. But these short-term gestures can mask long-term issues.
How would you feel if your money was being used to prop up oppressive regimes, test cosmetics on animals or damage the environment?
What are the issues?
Before you open a new student bank account, or if you want to find out about your current bank’s green and ethical credentials, you should consider the following:
Lending
Banks don't just lend money to current account-holding customers, they also lend to large corporations, public institutions and even governments. Would you approve if your bank was lending money to a company with a poor track record on human rights or one manufacturing arms for use in war zones?
Climate Change and Environment
Financial institutions have an impact in these areas, not just in terms of who they lend to or invest in, but how they run their own operations. It is important to find out what your bank or insurance provider is doing to improve its environmental performance as a business: have they pledged to go carbon neutral for example? Or do they offer any green products to their customers?
Equal Opportunities
A lot of people believe that equal opportunity in the work place is now the norm, but there is still a massive pay gap between men and women doing the same jobs across most industries, including finance. Also the number of women in high level positions is still significantly lower. Not only that but some companies’ equal opportunities policies don’t take other key issues like sexuality and disability into consideration.
Financial Exclusion
There are an estimated two million adults in the UK without even the most basic bank account. Is your bank doing anything to address this situation?
For more details see our Financial Exclusion section.
Responsible Credit
Does your bank, credit card provider or insurance company take care to appropriately target and market its products? Does it offer assistance to customers in financial difficulty? Some credit card providers may not treat their customers responsibly – issuing cards to people who’ll struggle to make their repayments and not offering help to those who do fall behind.
What are the ethical options?
There are a few banks, building societies and insurance companies with well-recognised green and ethical credentials. The examples listed below for banking and saving also scored the highest marks on ethical lending in our research:
Banking
- The Co-operative Bank: this institution provides student banking, insurance and credit cards facilities and has an ethical lending policy that extends across all its business operations.
- Smile: this internet arm of the Co-operative Bank and also offers student accounts.
Saving
- Triodos: this bank offers green and ethical savings accounts. Its commercial lending is primary to green businesses.
- Ecology: this mutual building society offers a range of green savings accounts and mortgage options and its commercial lending is mainly to small, green businesses.
Insurance
- Co-operative Insurance
Insurance type: home, motor, life and health
This company offers a wide range of insurance products and has an extensive ethical engagement policy governing who it will provide cover to. - Climate Sure
Insurance type: travel
Climate Sure calculates the CO2 produced by flying overseas and pays for it to be 'offset' by funding sustainable energy projects. - Green Insurance Company
Insurance type: motor
This provider aims to offset your car's carbon emissions and offers discounts on greener cars/lower mileage. - Naturesave
Insurance types: home, travel, personal accident and illness insurance
This company puts 10% of its personal insurance premiums in a fund (Naturesave Trust) to benefit environmental and conservation projects. It also offers a free environmental performance review for commercial clients and aims to use suppliers that support sustainable business practices.
Credit Cards
Before signing up to a card you should check out the ethical credentials of its provider. Visit our credit card section for more information.
Your next steps
See our Next Steps Guide - Student Finance for information on finding the best green and ethical service provider for you, how to switch accounts and how contact your bank or insurance company about their policies.
Student Finance Search
| Please click on any of the financial institutions below to find out more |  |
 |
 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Financial Institutions |
Criteria | |||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
Halifax
Green/Ethical Products
- Ethical Fund (Link Here).
- Easycash and Cardcash (social banking accounts).
- Charity cards (SSPCA Charity Card; NSPCC Charity Card; Cancer Research UK Charity Card).
Ethical Lending or Insurance
Since 2011 Halifax’s parent company Lloyds Banking Group has used its Environmental Risk Screening Tool (ERST) to assess its environmental risk in its transactions. Transactions are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with over 13,700 transactions assessed since the introduction of ERST.
Lloyds Banking Group is also a signatory to the Equator Principles, in order to support its approach to assessing and managing environmental and social issues in project finance transactions. The Group report publically on the transactions, their categorisation and outcomes that fell in to the scope of this framework. In 2012, no transactions were declined or approved with exceptions as a result of this process
However, it does not disclose the lending exclusion criteria.
2012 Responsible Business Report.
The Group’s specialised Environmental Risk team apply detailed focus to the transactions ERST identifies with potentially heightened environmental risks. They are also supported by the Group’s Panel of environmental consultants.
Human Rights
Halifax’s parent company Lloyds Banking Group has a human rights policy which applies across all its business practices worldwide. (See Here). This according to their 2012 Code of Business Responsibility applies to their investment, lending and service operations.
Applies the Equator Principles to applicable projects which includes an assessment in respect of Human Rights.
Financial Exclusion
Halifax offers Easycash and Cardcash accounts (social banking accounts) and secured mortgage lending in deprived areas and to first time buyers.
Halifax’s parent company Lloyds Banking Group operates over 100 accounts for credit unions. It also supports Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), such as the South Coast Moneyline. CDFIs are not-for-profit organisations which provide lending and investment facilities at competitive rates in disadvantaged communities.
Additionally, it supports credit unions with the provision of technology to enable them to setup online accounts for their members.
Halifax provides the following in its branches:
- Ramps, clearer signage and the installation of power-assisted doors.
- Where branches have split-level banking halls, they provide internal ramps or wheelchair lifts.
- Low-level counters and counter queue rails.
- Leaflets in large print, Braille or on audio tape. These can be ordered in branches to be sent direct to the customer.
- Cheque book templates to simplify the writing of cheques.
- Bank note guide to help identify the value of bank notes.
- A raised dot on number 5 of the keypad to help identify surrounding keys.
- You can contact them via Typetalk or by using BT Textdirect.
- Induction Loops.
- Interpreting Service.
- SignVideo Interpreting System.
- Telephone/Online Banking.
- Aims to create a ‘Dementia Friendly Financial Services Charter’
- Made a commitment to not close a single branch if it is the last in the town.
Lloyds Banking Group's Wholesale Division has raised funds to build a new branch of Opportunity International Savings and Loans Ltd, a provider of microfinance services, in Mankessim, Ghana. The Group’s Wholesale Division has also had a long-term partnership with the charity Opportunity International over three years. As well as financial support, representatives from the Group have also provided their skills and expertise.
Financial Inclusion Report (2010)
No evidence found that the company invests in or lends at lower rates to financially excluded communities.
Environment
Halifax’s parent company Lloyds Banking Group’s environmental policies cover the areas of: climate change, energy efficiency, waste management and water usage. 2012 Responsible Business Report.
Lloyds Banking Group is committed to continued improvement through its targets for 2013.
Carbon Neutral
No commitment to become fully carbon neutral was found.
Equal Opportunities
Halifax’s parent company Lloyds Banking Group has a diversity policy takes into consideration the key equality issues of race, gender, sexuality and disability.
Women on the Board
Parent company
3/10 women hold top level board positions (30%).
Voluntary Standards & Initiatives
Halifax is not a member / signatory by itself of any relevant initiatives, but Lloyds Banking Group is a member of or signatory to the following relevant charter or initiatives:
- Carbon Disclosure Project
- Equator Principles
- The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change
- Natural Capital Leaders Platform
- The London Benchmarking Group (LBG) (a group of over 100 companies working together to measure Corporate Community Investment)
- The Banking Environment Initiative of the University of Cambridge (convened in 2010 to identify ways in which banks can collectively redirect capital away from environmentally damaging activities towards environmentally beneficial ones)
- UKSIF
- Business in the Community (a business-led charity focused on promoting responsible business practice) and its initiative Race for Opportunity, and Scottish Business in the Community
- Climatewise
- Employers Forum on Age and Employers Forum on Disability.
- Dementia Friendly Financial Services Charter.
- Go ON UK.
Charitable Giving
- Invested £85 million last year in grassroots charities, financial inclusion and capability and sports for young people.
- Much of Lloyds Banking Group’s community investment initiatives is through the Lloyds TSB Foundations and Bank of Scotland Foundation – five independent charitable Foundations supported solely by the Group.
- The Charity of the Year programme is the Group's key fundraising initiative. Lloyds Banking Group’s Charity of the Year for 2012 was Save the Children. The project raised £3.6 million to help over 12,000 children in local communities through Schools Together (FAST) projects in some of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities.
- Lloyds Banking Group has a range of community programmes supported through direct investment and encouragement of colleagues to support communities with their skills and knowledge.
- Time contributions were made by 32,000 employees in 2012 which can include supporting their existing programmes such as Money for Life and Business Connectors, or some other community project.
- In kind contributions including using company premises, their in house training or recruitment resources for community benefit.
Halifax
- Current Accounts
- Savings
- Investments
- Credit Cards
- Loans
- Mortgages
- Insurance (Home, Car, Travel)
- Private Pension Fund
- Student Current Account
