Mercury Provident was the first British ethical bank, [1] noted for its "Target Accounts" which allowed depositors to select a rate of interest and a field to invest in. It was founded in 1974 and merged with Triodos Bank in 1994.
Mercury Provident was founded in 1974 by Christian Nunhofer and others. [2] It was later constituted as a "licensed deposit-taking institution" under the Banking Act 1979. [3] Inspired by the anthroposophical thinking of Rudolf Steiner, [4] Mercury Provident aimed to raise awareness of the functions of money and financial lending in society. [5] It offered loans to enterprises it judged to be of social and environmental value, for example Steiner schools, organic farms, [6] [7] wind farms and worker cooperatives. [8] Enterprises supported included Henry Doubleday Research Association and Weleda UK. [1]
Investors deposited money into "Target Accounts", which allowed them to choose projects they would like their deposit to support, and to select a fixed interest rate between zero and a maximum aligned with other market rates. [4] [7] Many investors also bought "membership shares", which were not traded on the Stock Exchange. [9] In 1991 a variable-rate deposit account was introduced, offering a rate only slightly below base rate. [6]
In 1994 Mercury Provident, which then had assets of about £9 million, was taken over by the larger ethical bank Triodos of the Netherlands. The decision was reported as due to an increased burden of regulatory requirements. [8]
Islamic banking, Islamic finance, or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Some of the modes of Islamic finance include mudarabah, wadiah (safekeeping), musharaka, murabahah (cost-plus), and ijarah (leasing).
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed. The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, the compounding frequency, and the length of time over which it is lent, deposited, or borrowed.
The monetary policy of the United States is the set of policies which the Federal Reserve follows to achieve its twin objectives of high employment and stable inflation.
In macroeconomics, money supply refers to the total volume of money held by the public at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include currency in circulation and demand deposits. Money supply data is recorded and published, usually by the national statistical agency or the central bank of the country. Empirical money supply measures are usually named M1, M2, M3, etc., according to how wide a definition of money they embrace. The precise definitions vary from country to country, in part depending on national financial institutional traditions.
The money market is a component of the economy that provides short-term funds. The money market deals in short-term loans, generally for a period of a year or less.
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A savings account is a bank account at a retail bank. Common features include a limited number of withdrawals, a lack of cheque and linked debit card facilities, limited transfer options and the inability to be overdrawn. Traditionally, transactions on savings accounts were widely recorded in a passbook, and were sometimes called passbook savings accounts, and bank statements were not provided; however, currently such transactions are commonly recorded electronically and accessible online.
Money creation, or money issuance, is the process by which the money supply of a country, or an economic or monetary region, is increased. In most modern economies, money is created by both central banks and commercial banks. Money issued by central banks is a liability, typically called reserve deposits, and is only available for use by central bank account holders, which are generally large commercial banks and foreign central banks.
The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 is a United States federal financial statute passed in 1980 and signed by President Jimmy Carter on March 31. It gave the Federal Reserve greater control over non-member banks.
Triodos Bank N.V. is an ethical bank based in the Netherlands with many branches in Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, and Spain. It was founded in 1980.
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An ethical bank, also known as a social, alternative, civic, or sustainable bank, is a bank concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investments and loans. The ethical banking movement includes: ethical investment, impact investment, socially responsible investment, corporate social responsibility, and is also related to such movements as the fair trade movement, ethical consumerism, and social enterprise.
China's banking sector had CN¥417 trillion in assets at the end of 2023. The "Big Four" state-owned commercial banks are the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Agricultural Bank of China, all of which are among the largest banks in the world as of 2018. Other notable big and also the largest banks in the world are China Merchants Bank and Ping An Bank.
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans, mobilising saver surplus to deficit spenders. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
United Kingdom banking law refers to banking law in the United Kingdom, to control the activities of banks.
Social enterprise lending is a form of social finance which refers to the practice of offering loans and other financing vehicles below current market rates to social enterprises and other organisations pursuing social goals. This is often referred to as "patient lending," or financing with "soft" terms. Patient lending recognises that projects with social outcomes often reach profitability later than commercial projects. Softening the terms of a loan means that a social lender may offer provisions such as longer loan terms, lower interest rates and repayment "holidays" where capital and interest repayments are not due until the project is profitable. Social lenders might also offer small grants as part of an investment package.
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, commonly referred to as Vancity, is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. By asset size, Vancity is the largest community credit union in Canada as of 2019, with CA$28.2 billion in assets plus assets under administration, 60 branches and more than 543,000 members.
A fixed deposit (FD) is a tenured deposit account provided by banks or non-bank financial institutions which provides investors a higher rate of interest than a regular savings account, until the given maturity date. It may or may not require the creation of a separate account. The term fixed deposit is most commonly used in India and the United States. It is known as a term deposit or time deposit in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and as a bond in the United Kingdom.