wp-graphql domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/carbonsw/public_html/carbonswitchcms/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114wp-simple-firewall domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/carbonsw/public_html/carbonswitchcms/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114By now you’ve probably heard the news: most banks use your money to fund fossil fuel projects. In fact, here’s how much the top 5 worst offenders lended to fossil fuel projects between 2016-2020 according to a recent report<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But despair not, internet stranger: there are banks you can sign up for that use your money to fund climate solutions like rooftop solar, electric vehicles, LED lighting<\/a>, and my favorite boring climate solution of them all, heat pumps<\/a> (and, of course, their trusty-side kick, the heat pump water heater<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month I set out on a journey to move me and my wife’s money to one such bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because I’m both a climate and personal finance nerd, I spent an absurd amount of time doing research on, testing, and vetting every sustainable bank out there. In total I looked at more than a dozen options and actually signed up for 4 of them to test the user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve broken this article into two sections: in the first section, I’ll run through my process and how I tested each bank. If you too want to overthink and analyze the crap out of this decision like me, you might enjoy reading that. But if you just want to pick a bank and move on, skip that section to read my reviews and recommendations in the second section. Or check out the two minute version below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you only have a few minutes, here’s the short version of my recommendations and what I learned: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Choosing a bank is no small decision. Choose poorly and you end up with a bank that sticks you with fees and makes you come into a branch to sign paperwork. When I was younger I chose one such bank and I can confirm it was a terrible experience. In embarking on my divestment journey, I didn’t want to make that mistake again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when I finally decided to make the switch I thought I’d do my due diligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To start, I spent a few hours looking for the most sustainable banks. I asked climate-concious friends for recommendations, crowdsourced feedback on Twitter, and trawled Google. I found about a dozen options. Then I read annual reports from each banks (when they were available) and talked to executives at the company to understand what my deposits would fund. From this research I whittled my list down to 4 options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I signed up for accounts with each bank and transferred money into them in order to test the user experience. (I probably raised some eyebrows at the FBI in the process).<\/p>\n\n\n\n For each option I looked for the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So without further ado, here is what I learned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bank I liked the most was Ando<\/a>. Like Clean Energy Credit Union and Atmos (my 2nd and 3rd favorite options), 100% of deposits fund climate solutions (some of which have a climate justice angle<\/a>). But where Ando really shines is the user experience. It took me about 10 minutes to sign up for an account and get approved. And the whole app is just really slick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The two biggest drawbacks were: 1. They don’t offer joint accounts, and 2. They only have a mobile app, which for an aging old millennial like me is annoying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Clean Energy Credit Union<\/a> came in a close second. Like Ando, 100% of deposits fund climate solutions. The organization is also women-led and recently took steps to increase the diversity of its board (two rarities in an industry that has a bad track record on this front). <\/p>\n\n\n\n But it took more than a week for me to get approved for an account and, of all the options I looked at, the sign up experience felt more like a traditional bank than a neo-bank like Ando. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you like the idea of supporting a local credit union, CECU is definitely the option for you. If you’re a sucker for a good user experience like me, on the other hand, go with Ando. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Atmos almost <\/em>won my heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s a lot to like about this company and the team behind it. 100% of deposits fund climate solutions. They encourage their users to support impactful non-profits<\/a>. And the team is really responsive to feedback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But I ran into a few bugs during the sign up process that made me go with Ando instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Atmos is definitely a bank to watch. Assuming they are able to iron out the user experience wrinkles, Atmos will be a great option. I’m certainly rooting for them and will plan to revisit them down the road and update this review. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Atmos, I really wanted to like Aspiration. But I was sorely disappointed when I dug deep in the research process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I mentioned above, Clean Energy Credit Union, Ando, and Atmos all use customer deposits to make loans to people or businesses that want to install rooftop solar, buy an EV, or improve their home’s energy efficiency. In other words, they fund climate solutions and accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aspiration doesn’t do this. Instead they use your money to fund traditional home, car, and business loans through a network of community banks. So that’s reason #1 that I don’t recommend Aspiration. Rather than fund climate solutions, Aspiration funds business-as-usual activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second reason I don’t recommend Aspiration is their incredibly disappointing approach to climate impact. Their website has all kinds of grandiose statements like, “Our planet is in danger \u2013 and time is running out. But you\u2019re not helpless. In fact, the power to fight the climate crisis is in your hands \u2013 and your wallet.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n So how does Aspiration help you fight the climate crisis? With reforestation offsets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Impact page of their website the company says that whenever you buy gas they’ll offset it by planting trees. They write, “No matter what kind of car you drive, you’ll have more peace of mind.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are three problems with this approach to impact: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given that Aspiration has more customers than any of the banks I evaluated, I really hope they change their impact strategy. They have a huge opportunity to finance and educate their customers on the climate solutions that work. But for now, I don’t recommend using them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Update (11\/17\/21): Joe Sanberg, one of the co-founders of Aspiration, responded to my critique of the company on Twitter here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Correction (11\/17\/21): A previous version of this article said that Aspiration invests customer deposits in fossil fuel-free ETFs rather than community loans.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alright that’s all for now folks! I hope this was helpful. If you have any feedback or questions don’t hesitate to reach out. My email is michael (at) carbonswitch (dot) co. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you liked this guide you might enjoy some of the others that I’ve written: <\/p>\n\n\n\n By now you’ve probably heard the news: most banks use your money to fund fossil fuel projects. In fact, here’s how much the top 5 worst offenders lended to fossil fuel projects between 2016-2020 according to a recent report: JP Morgan Chase: $316 billion Citi: $237 billion Wells Fargo: $223 billion Bank of America: $198 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides"],"yoast_head":"\nThe two minute version of what I learned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How I evaluated and tested the banks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The best climate bank: Ando review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What I liked <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What I didn’t like<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The best climate credit union: Clean Energy Credit Union review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What I liked<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What I didn’t like<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The bank to watch: Atmos <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What I liked<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What I didn’t like<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The climate bank that could do more: Aspiration review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read more of our guides<\/h2>\n\n\n\n