Ethical banking or social banking was born as an alternative to traditional banking. Its approach is to generate a responsible and transparent investment system, whose priority is to put the person at the center and not money or economic benefits.
Its purpose is to promote companies and organizations in key sectors of the economy, which generate a positive impact on society and the environment. In Latin America the story begins in 2013 when Joan Melé (72), Spanish banker, director of the Triodes Bank and president of the Money and Consciousness Foundationa, traveled to Argentina and Chile to disseminate the ethical banking model in our continent. Today it is a Latin American financial group, which, from Mexico to Patagonia, has the purpose of promoting three areas of investment, education and culture, social development and the environment.
Its objective is to promote freedom in culture, promote equity and inclusion of all people, care for nature and the responsible use of natural resources by structuring loans for companies and organizations that contribute to the development of sustainable cities. The context could not be more challenging: the inability of the global economy to respond to its serious problems, accelerating global inflation, fragmented geopolitical blocs, new technologies, different trade rules and common practices laden with corruption. with the aim of financing initiatives that have proposals to transform the economy from the perspective of triple impact (economic, social and environmental), something that Melé himself denies is a utopia.
What is it like to think about business and finance in a sustainable way?
It is remembering that money is not a commodity or an object that can be bought or sold, it is always a relationship between human beings and also with the earth. Therefore, every time we make a decision with money, be it buying, selling, or investing, we have to think that it will not only affect us but also others and the earth. To create a sustainable world, we have to start creating a human economy, that is, a conscious economy, where decisions not only benefit me, but also benefit everyone. We have demonstrated this in Ethical Banking in Europe and now in Latin America, as well as in the new consumer market for organic or fair trade products. ORn sustainable world is to go from an egoistic economy of the self to an economy of the conscious, of us, transactions where everyone wins.s.
What are the requirements to take credit in Ethical Banking?
The first ethic is not to put the money of a client or investor at risk. When you ask for a loan, you don’t want to be squeezed too much, but when someone deposits the money, the first thing they ask is, is this bank safe, if I put the money here are they going to give it back to me? So the first thing we ask the client is, are you going to return it, how are you going to return it, what do you have in case this fails? Because the money is not mine and I have to return it.
Can you give some concrete figures?
We have success stories such as the fact of having managed to demonstrate and convince farmers to go from conventional agriculture to organic or biodynamic agriculture, firstly, because it is good for the world, but then they discover that their lives have changed. In Chile, where we’ve been around the longest, we have financed some 800 projects and the success is that none failed, there was a slight delay in some, but they didn’t fall through. This is very difficult in Banking so it really is a banking and financial success.
What things do not go more in the world?
There is no more a competitive economy where the search for maximum profit has been a sacred norm. This has led to a situation of deterioration of the planet and to social inequality throughout the world. Less than 1% of the world population accumulates more wealth than the remaining 99% and this does not make sense. The educational model does not work either, we have educated to compete, to earn money and we must educate to be fully human and find meaning in life, in one’s work. Change the educational model, return to the humanist model where art, philosophy and literature are as important as mathematics and physics. Educate for the universal human being.
To that end, what can any of us do?
Put a lot of awareness in how we use and what we do with money: be it a purchase, a savings, an investment or a donation. We cannot continue buying things because they are cheap, the first thing we have to understand is that things have a value, nothing is cheap. If you pay below value, it’s going to cost someone dearly, here or in Bangladesh. We pay and buy things that are made where we would not allow our children to work. When I buy something I ask: who made it, where, under what conditions… When I put the money in the bank, I ask, what are you going to do with my money? I don’t think they will answer it… So invest in Ethical Banking. This really changes the world!
How do you see the future?
I have the great fortune to speak with many young people. In a meeting that I did with young people from all over the world in Switzerland, the word that appeared the most was hopelessness. We have taken away their hope for the future and this makes me feel a great sense of responsibility. I see the new generations with a clear social motivation, less theoretical and more practical, they ask me: Joan, what can we do? They don’t like the example of adults who only see greed, ambition and competitiveness, the first thing they tell you is that there is a lot of corruption. I see a prosperous future if we help them not to repeat our model, it depends on us making a change with them.
And you: how do you define yourself?
I am a seeker of the human, I work to be a better person and until I die I will put all my energy so that the world is a little better. The history of money and the evolution of commerce linked to our work brought us here. Today we live in parallel realities, together with the chaos and collapse of decadent systems, a magnificent creativity is present that defies the darkest forecasts. This pivotal moment has us as protagonists and we are the ones who will decide our own fate.
Adriana Churriguera is a journalist-, activist in Values and Sustainability. @achurriguera
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by Adriana Churriguera
