I freely admit that I was swayed by the pretty pastel design of the credit card. Instead of my old light-blue card with its boring dark blue logo, the card for my brand-new sustainable account features an illustration of a hand with nails painted in millennial pink, holding an apple.
I also confess that for many years I didn’t really give much thought to whether my old bank – the largest in Germany – was sustainable. Roughly 25 years ago, my grandmother opened up a savings book for me and I was given interest on my pocket money. I remained loyal to the bank – even without a savings book, when the interest dried up and I had to pay quarterly fees – and it simply never occurred to me to question this loyalty.
Then I heard about a sustainable bank (the one with the pretty cards) called Tomorrow. The website told me: “We buy organic vegetables and use green electricity – while (most conventional) banks are investing our cash in projects without our approval, like new coal-fired power plants.” I instantly felt a wave of guilt. Shortly afterwards, I opened a sustainable account (free of charge and it took only 7 minutes). I did a bit of research beforehand: conventional banks make a profit by investing their customers’ money in sectors which these customers might not have chosen themselves – weapons, factory farming, palm oil. And fossil fuels which, according to the Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2020, the world’s leading banks have been investing heavily in between 2016 and 2019. Top of the list in Europe is Barclays (US$118 billion), HSBC (US$87 billion), BNP Paribas (US$84 billion), Credit Suisse (US$74 billion). In 5th place comes my bank, Deutsche Bank (US$69 billion).
Just think of the positive changes these banks could make if they invested in climate-friendly projects instead. That is exactly what Tomorrow and other sustainable banks like Triodos Bank and GLS Bank do, using their customers’ assets exclusively for projects like wind power or building more affordable housing. When choosing investments, Tomorrow ensures that they make a contribution to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
