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Social responsibility and ethics are central customer propositions for the UK's Co-operative Bank. It was the first bank in the world to be set up wholly along ethical principles, back in 1992. It competes against all of the UK's mainstream banks in terms of product provision and has its own online banking service - www.smile.co.uk. As David Smith, the bank's principal spokesperson, says: "Our ethical stance is who we are and what we do. It is the bank."
The bank's overall ethical policy is based on extensive, regular consultations between itself and its customers and reflects the customers' ethical concerns about how their money should and should not be invested. This consultation process is central to the bank's business practice and forms the core of its marketing drive. "We always said we would communicate with our customers to make sure we remain at the cutting edge of ethical business practice," says Smith. The bank...