Charity Bank amongst ‘best for the world’ B Corporations
Howard Lake | 13 September 2017 | News
Charity Bank has been named as one of the best B Corporations in two categories.
The ethical bank that works to use money for good was selected from more than 2,200 Certified B Corporations by an independent assessment. It was recognised as being in the top 10 per cent of two categories:
• Best for Customers for creating the most positive impact on its customers, and
• Best for the Long Term for creating an innovative governance structure to protect its mission for the long term.
The list of best B Corporations are based on an independent, comprehensive assessment carried out by B Lab, the non-profit governing body of the standards. The full assessment measures a company’s impact on:
- its workers
- community
- customers
- environment.
What is a B Corporation?
B Corporations are companies that meet the highest standards of verified overall social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, and aspire to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
B Corporations that score in the top 10 per cent are regarded as setting a gold standard for businesses wanting to make a positive difference to the world around them.
Charity Bank as a B Corporation
Charity Bank became the first bank in Europe and sixth organisation in the UK to become a Certified B Corporation in January 2015. Today, there is a growing community of 150 Certified UK B Corporations.
It is entirely owned by charitable foundations, trusts and social purpose organisations and its staff do not receive discretionary bonuses. Money saved with the bank is lent to charities and social enterprises working to create lasting social change in communities across the UK.
Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab, said: “Companies like Charity Bank are proving that business can be a force for good for all stakeholders. We’re proud to share their achievement in a meaningful way. Best for the World is the only list of businesses making the greatest positive impact that uses comprehensive, comparable, third-party-validated data about a company’s social and environmental performance.”
Charity Bank staff celebrate after being named among Best for the World in global business honours
Patrick Crawford, Chief Executive of Charity Bank, said: “We are proud to be recognised as an organisation that seeks to maximise its social impact. These honours evidence how we put our social purpose and customer interests at the heart of our governance and decision- making. We stand with other organisations using business as a tool to build a better world.”
Other Certified B Corporations that were announced as 2017 Best for the World Honourees, include Patagonia, Seventh Generation, National Co+op Grocers, and Business Development Bank of Canada.
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- Charity Bank launches ethical ISA (7 March 2017)
- Charity Bank makes its 1,000th loan (3 July 2012)
- Charity Bank rebrands and adds new services (30 May 2008)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.