Why do you choose a bank account, or a mortgage for that matter?  Greenbang’s guessing that a bank’s reputation features a little and very few people would use a bank entitled Evil, Destructive and Violent but in reality, it goes down to the interest rates?

If nothing else, what other information is there to base a decision on?  Many months ago Co-op began stating it was “the only high-street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy that says who we will and will not do business with.” One more bank has entered the ethical fray, and this time in France.

The French bank Caisse d’Epargne has created a guide to the social/environmental factors, impact on the environment and, of course, the financial risk.  Each criteria will be rated from 1-5, and colour coded from red to green, similar to the efficiency ratings seen on fridges and washing machines.

According to Environmental Finance:

The bank has been applying the labels to its savings products since the beginning of June, and has made the methodology freely available for other institutions to adopt.

The methodology was developed by the consultancy Utopies, with stakeholders including French environmental NGOs Les Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth France), WWF and French environment agency Ademe.

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