Banks

Divestment Day is 18 Oct 2014. People will be taking their money out of banks that finance pollution, and putting it somewhere better. But where to put it?

Good News
I did this research to find a good bank, that also has good rates. And it turns out that most banks have better rates than the 'majors' - as well as not funding pollution. Double win!

Banks with no investments in coal / gas companies.

Bank	Fossil fuel loans	Home Loan2 (standard variable)	Term Deposit2 1 year, $50,000
Bankmecu	$0	5.13%	3.60%
Bendigo Bank	$0	6.16%	3.35%
ME Bank	$0	5.39%	3.65%
QT Mutual Bank	$0	5.44%	3.55%
CUA	$0	5.45%	3.60%
Bank of Qld	$0	5.90%	3.45%
Heritage Bank	$0	5.04%	3.50%

A switch to a more planet-friendly bank seems to also put you in a better financial position. By comparison, below are rates of common Australian banks (that you may be with now) and their recent funding of fossil fuel companies.

Banks that fund coal / gas companies.

Bank	Fossil fuel loans	Home Loan2 (standard variable)	Term Deposit2 1 year, $50,000
St George	owned by Westpac	6.15%	3.35%
Suncorp	$113 million	6.15%	3.45%
Westpac	$1158 million	6.11%	3.30%
NAB	$1450 million	5.97%	3.35%
Commonwealth	$1503 million	6.04%	3.30%
ANZ	$2347 million	5.98%	3.30%

Notes
1. Bank of Melbourne, Bank of SA, BankWest, UBank are also owned by major banks.

2. For comparison purposes, I chose the standard variable home loan rate - and used the 'comparison rate'. Different products may vary. For term deposits I chose a 12 month term. For terms shorter than this, the majors often give even poorer rates.

3. For more info on the bank's fossil fuel investments see Market Forces.

4. I should add that I'm not a professional financial advisor, and this is not meant to be financial advice. I'm just sharing the results of my 'shopping around' - along with carbon information from Market Forces.

5. Rates were accurate as of September 2014.

By the way, It's now easier than ever to switch banks, thanks to changes made by the Australian government in 2012.