Customers Who Care

The Co-operative Bank have released their annual press release revealing how much business they have lost over the last year by sticking to their ethical policy. I would imagine that the true loss of business is much larger - I mean if you were a factory-farming arms trader with links to oppressive regimes, would you even entertain the idea of applying to the Co-op for a bank loan?

Another strand to the Co-operative Bank's ethical bow is the Customers Who Care campaign. This is designed to harness the terrific ethical energy of the Bank's customer base to make a real change. The focus of the next 12 months is the subject of Human Rights - in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Customers of the Co-op Bank are invited to pledge to uphold the declaration, and to take action to help promote human rights around the globe. The Bank will be working with Amnesty International and other human rights charities to really try to make a difference. The campaign fund receives 1.25p per £100 spent on all Co-op Bank credit and debit cards. OK, that's a small percentage, but overall it adds up to a big fighting fund to be spent on the ethical issue of the moment.