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
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Danske Bank UK
Green/Ethical Products
- Basic Bank Account
- Offers Ethical advice to its customers on products and services.
Ethical Lending or Insurance
No evidence of an ethical lending policy found for Danske Bank UK.
However Danske Banks parent company the Danish based Danske Bank Group have procedures for responsible investment which are intended to ensure that the funds they invest on behalf of their customers are not placed in companies that violate internationally recognised standards. The Group screens its investment portfolios according to a number of internationally recognised standards and guidelines for human rights, arms, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption.
The responsible investment (RI) screening is performed by Ethix SRI Advisors, which is an independent, specialised RI consultant. The overall responsibility for the screening process lies with the RI working Group, in which Danske Capital, DI and Danica are also members.
Have excluded 29 companies from their investment universe based on their screening to date as of June 2013.
Human Rights
No policy was found to indicate that Danske Bank UK avoids lending to or insuring companies that directly contribute to human rights violations.
However, Danske Bank Group screens its investment portfolios according to a number of internationally recognised standards and guidelines for human rights, arms, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. Danske Bank Group lists the companies it has excluded based on its screening criteria: http://www.danskebank.com/en-uk/CSR/business/SRI/Pages/exclusionlist.aspx
Danse Bank Group states that in 2011 it began to cross-check Danske Bank’s credit exposure against the Group’s SRI exclusion list. It will be developing a specific set of guidelines for sensitive sectors that will be implemented in the credit policies and procedures for the Business Banking and Corporates & Institutions credit units.
Financial Exclusion
- Offers the Danske Discovery account for customers who are under 18.
- Offers a Basic Bank Account.
- Postgraduate Funding Loan
No evidence that the company provides direct financial support to or engages in partnerships with Credit Unions and CDFI’s (Community Development Finance Institutions).
Danske Bank publications are also available in Braille, in large print, on tape and on disk.
No evidence found of Danske Bank UKs involvement in any microfinance or microinsurance projects.
No evidence found that the company invests in or lends at lower rates to financially excluded communities.
Environment
Danske Bank UK’s parent company's environmental policy addresses the key areas of climate change and energy efficiency. However, it does not address water use and waste management.
Danske Bank UK have after reducing electricity consumption by 17% in 2012 aims to further reduce energy consumption by 10% in 2013.
Carbon Neutral
Danske Bank Group became carbon neutral in 2009.
Equal Opportunities
Danske Bank UK’s parent company Danske Bank Group has a diversity policy which takes into consideration the key equality issues of race, gender and sexuality but does not mention disability.
Women on the Board
UK company:
1/8 women hold top level board positions (12.5%).
Parent company:
4/13 women hold top level board positions (31%).
Student Banking
A current account is available for 18-27 year olds working or studying, living in Northern Ireland.
Voluntary Standards & Initiatives
Northern Bank Ltd (now Danske Bank Ltd) is a member of Business in the Community (a business-led charity focused on promoting responsible business practice).
Danske Bank UK is a not a signatory on their own of any other relevant charters/initiatives. However other divisions of Danske Bank Group are members of the following:
- United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (Danske Invest).
- UN Global Compact (Danske Bank Group),
United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (Danske Bank A/S).
Charitable Giving
The main focus of the bank's community development strategy is to support knowledge and skills in the community through funding and staff volunteering. Supporting financial literacy is the core theme of its community involvement programme.
Danske Bank UK
- Current Accounts
- Credit Cards
- Loans
- Savings and Investments
- Mortgages
- Insurance (Home, Car, Travel)
- Private Pension
- Student Finance (current account for those living in Northern Ireland)
Danske Bank UK
Northern Bank Limited.
Registered Office:
Donegall Square West,
Belfast
BT1 6JS.
