Move Your Money

The noise about Fred ‘the shred’s’ Knighthood and Stephen Hester’s bonus is to distract us with a few high profile scapegoats whilst the rest of the banking cleptocracy get away with it. Moves by Cameron and Osborne to cover up their lack of action.

So what can we do about it? Well I was pleased that Co-operatives UK supported the UK Uncut inspired campaign MOVE YOUR MONEY. This campaign encourages people to close their accounts with the big banks and to move to more ethical financial institutions.

I must admit I have been thinking about this for a while a couple of years ago I sent some cash to Unite Against Fascism because of my concern about the EDL. Last year they wrote asking if I would consider donating again enclosing a direct debit form. Now the cash would have gone to HSBC. Interesting I thought so I wrote to them enclosing a cheque from my Smile account with the Co-op Bank and asked why HSBC? Maybe I had missed it but I had not seen them as partners in the struggle against Fascism.

I know that people are more likely to get divorced than change banks but it really is quite simple. I have just changed a £7 million account of a school where I am treasurer to the Co-op and it could not have been easier. Yet there are still people who claim to want to change the world but can’t summon up the energy to change their bank account.

I am sure like me you are sick of the behaviour of the main Banks. How many reasons do you need to shift your cash, the 2008 crash was all down to these people, the money they made from miss-selling and over charging and the continuing issue of bonus’s which distort the Banks activities and are an affront to any sense of decency.

Of course these Banks are not stupid and they will fight to keep our accounts. It is worth remembering that the demutualisation of building societies and insurance businesses that was supported and campaigned for by the banking sector in the late 1980s lead to the withdrawal of around 70% of the assets from the mutual building society and insurance sectors.

It has taken thirty years for the sector to rebuild itself addressing areas where the mainstream financial institutions have failed. Today they are growing rapidly, focusing on a mix of meeting needs not met by mainstream banks, value for money and social responsibility.

Today across the country there are 465 credit unions serving 870,000 members holding £600 million in savings, the building societies have £220 billion of UK savings. And since the credit crunch, The Co-operative Bank has been named by the Financial Times as the world's most sustainable bank, while Nationwide Building Society has been listed by Global Finance Magazine one of the world's safest financial institutions.

If the UK Move Your Money campaign only gets us to the penetration of co-op banks on the continent it would make a huge difference. In the Netherlands, half the population is with the highly successful co-operative Rabobank, while in Germany co-operative banks have 30 million members and Credit Agricole France’s largest Bank is owned by 6 million members with 54 million customers world- wide. Overall, European co-operative banks have 20% of the market but with a push it could be more.

We are soon to move into the Bank reporting season last year the level of bonuses was obscured during the furore about the News of the World and phone hacking, as the press likes nothing more than to report on a story about itself. The bank bonus figure for 2011 was £14 billion. Yes £14 billion in bonuses and these are on top of already hugely inflated salaries.

Despite the clap trap about ‘Project Merlin’ lending to small firms is continuing to fall and the management of most of the Banks today are getting their bonuses not for growing their businesses but for shrinking them! For calling in loans and overdrafts now deemed to be too risky and shedding staff.

When Adair Turner head of the FSA described the banks as “socially useless” he was obviously wrong. They do have a socially useful function. That of transferring wealth from the poor to the rich! (Useful of course only if you happen to be one of the rich).

Turner qualified his statement in a speech to the Cass Business School he said he should have used the term ‘economically useless’ or ‘of no economic value added’. Saying he wanted to “be confident that the impact of their activities will be beneficial for the real economy and thus for human welfare.”

Now it is crystal clear that the current banking system is unfit for purpose damaging to the real economy and therefore human welfare the government is not going to do anything so it is up to you. So why let them get their hands on any of your money?

I appreciate this is not the perfect solution but whilst we are waiting for perfection at least they are not paying themselves with your cash. What are you waiting for go to: moveyourmoney.org.uk