What would you say? (The end)

What would you say? Pt 1 and Pt 1.5

Last recap: Your best friend asked you to give them every dollar you earn, so they could invest it to make money for themselves. They keep the profit, you get your money back – would you agree or disagree?

First up, the correct answer I teased: It’s your money, do what you want 😀

But if you replace “your best friend” with “your bank”, this is pretty much the exact relationship you’re in right now.

So consider the scenario again.

All your money goes into your bank account. All of it (probably).

Your bank invests that money in projects or companies ‘they can’t talk about’. This is currently true of about 50% of Aussie banks.

Some of them do talk about it openly. Others smokescreen it under “corporate lending” or other financial backdoors, so that it has to be uncovered via an investigation or analysis like this one.

Bank keeps the profit. You can access your money, but you don’t get any of the profit it earns…

…ok, sometimes you earn interest, sure. And yes, your bank is a much safer and more convenient place to keep your money than your mattress.

But if you’re with the big 4 banks in Aus, you’re now also being hoodwinked into believing they’ve been divesting from fossil fuels for the past couple of years – they haven’t.

What’s next

When faced with this question from their best friend, just about everyone – who I’m sure loves their best friend – basically said 🖕

Switching banks is a lot easier than switching out your best mate.

A lot of climate action takes a lot of ongoing effort – not this.

You switch banks once, and your money is clean. It’s out of their hands. It’s never going to fund mines, oil rigs, weapons, tobacco… any of it.

If your best friend screwed you over with your money, how many more chances would you give them to make it up to you? 

Whatever that number is, you’ve already given your bank many more chances than that. It’s up to you to decide if they’re worth it.

People are strangely loyal to banks.

“We’ve been with {well known bank} since I was a kid!”

And?

When you stop seeing your bank as more than a glorified mattress to stash your cash in, you’ll realise they’re all basically the same, even the ethical banks. They make investments to make money, the only thing that changes is what they invest in.

About 50% of banks in Aus fund fossil fuels, and about 50% don’t. Pick one that doesn’t, switch, and never think about it again.

Don’t be kinder to your bank than you would be to your best mate 🙂