Triodos Bank
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| Triodos Bank N.V. | |
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| Type | Public, not listed |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Headquarters | Zeist, the Netherlands |
| Key people | Peter Blom, CEO |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Products | Sustainable banking |
| Revenue | €3.3 billion (2007) |
| Net income | €9 million (2007) |
| Employees | 400 (2007) |
| Website | www.triodos.com |
Triodos Bank N.V. is a bank based in the Netherlands with branches in Belgium, the United Kingdom and Spain. It is a pioneer in ethical banking. Triodos Bank finances companies which it thinks add cultural value and benefit both people and the environment. The name, Triodos – "tri hodos" – is translated from the Greek as "three-way approach".
Triodos is unusual as it exclusively positively screens; it only lends to businesses and charities that it thinks benefit people or the environment. This differs from many other ethical banks which may negatively screen; avoid investing in companies judged to be doing harm, such as arms, pornography or tobacco companies.[1] The Bank uses money deposited by close to 100,000 savers and lends it to hundreds of organisations, such as fair trade initiatives, organic farms and social enterprises.
Savers can open conventional savings accounts, as well as ethical funds and venture capital. Triodos also has an active international department, supporting microfinance initiatives across the developing world.
Backed by growing interest in saving and investing, as well as spending ethically, Triodos' balance sheet was worth $1,445 million, or £837 million, by the end of 2005.
Triodos is the only commercial bank in the UK to provide an annual list of all the loans the bank has made, so savers can see exactly how their money is used.
Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands claims that transferring 10,000 euros in savings from a "climate laggard" such as ABN Amro to Triodos will effectively result in a carbon dioxide emissions saving equivalent to what would be achieved by not driving a car for six months.[2]
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