liberethos_paradigm/us_banks.md

financial institution	political party	ALEC	CISPA	drug testing	finances private prisons	Tor-hostile	environmental abuses	other ethical problems
Bank of America	🐘	👌 (dropped)	🚨	🔎	🚓 (will stop)	👁 (& VPN-hostile)	fracking, fossil fuel, extreme fossil fuel, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dakota Access Pipeline, ultra-deepwater oil & gas projects, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge	politically motivated denial of fund transfers; often named "most hated bank" in consumer feedback studies; xenophobic policy and hostile toward immigrants; shamed for dumb password rules
Capital One	🐘		🚨			👁		sponsors Fox News; spent $20 million on Facebook ads (thus feeding a privacy abuser); uses privacy-abusing Amazon AWS which lead to exfiltration of 100M customer records; shamed for dumb password rules
Charles Schwab	🐘		🚨	🔎		👁		outsources banking operations to PNC Bank
Citibank	🐘		🚨	🔎			fossil fuel, extreme fossil fuel, ultra-deepwater oil & gas projects, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion	member of Better Than Cash Alliance thus fights to remove the cash payment option; Citi blocked insulin to 450,000 Venezuelans; Citi blocks account holder access to money if Citibank doesn't like your address; shamed for dumb password rules
Fifth Third	🐘		🚨	🔎	🚓			employs 17,744 workers in pro-forced-birth state (OH)
JP Morgan - Chase	🐘		🚨	🔎	🚓 (will stop)	👁+	Arctic oil and gas exploration, fracking, fossil fuel, extreme fossil fuel, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dakota Access Pipeline, ultra-deepwater oil & gas projects, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion	supports Trump; financed nazis; paid $3k per engineer per day to Palantir (thus contributing to family separation at the US-Mexico border)
PNC	🐘	👌	🚨	🔎	🚓		Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Suntrust Bank			🚨	🔎	🚓		Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion	employs 24,375 workers in pro-forced-birth state (GA)
TD Bank			🚨				fossil fuel, Atlantic Coast Pipeline	Canadian ownership. Unlike TD Ameritrade, TD Bank was not acquired by Charles Schwab.
US Bancorp - US Bank	🐘		🚨	🔎	🚓			employs 4000 workers in pro-forced-birth state (MS)
Wells Fargo	🐘	👌 (dropped)	🚨	🔎	🚓 (will stop)	👁	fracking, fossil fuel (source 2), Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dakota Access Pipeline, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion	supports Trump; sponsors Fox News; caught committing fraud; shamed for dumb password rules; only one large PPP loan given to a black-owned business; accused of charging black and latinx applicants higher rates and fees for home loans.

(🐘) Commercial banks who meddle in politics tend to give disproportionately more to republican candidates (53/43%) and credit unions tend to give disproportionately more to democrats (58/41%), although it's uncommon for credit unions to meddle in politics at all. The elephant (🐘) above indicates that it's confirmed specifically for that bank that it favors republicans. Absence of 🐘 just means I didn't check that bank.

(🚨) the problem with CISPA-- CISPA was a bill to create a system of unwarranted mass surveillance through information sharing between the government and private sector. Congress blocked the bill, but it was later reincarnated as CISA and it passed. The police light (🚨) indicates that the bank lobbied for a police surveillance state in favor of CISPA.

(🔎) the problem with drug testing-- Drug testing employees in all cases above entail control over employees lifestyle outside the workplace. And in most cases involving medicinal mj states, the drug test also harms the healthcare of employees by intervening in doctors' prescriptions. The magnifying glass (🔎) indicates that the bank mistreats employees by drug testing them.

(🚓) the problem with prison financing-- Under the Trump administration, the number of immigrants detained by the US government has skyrocketed. Nearly 75% of those detained are held in private prisons, whose stock prices have soared against the backdrop of Trump’s zero-tolerance and family separation policies. A Popular Democracy study details which banks are financing private prisons and detention centers, as well as the banks that have made commitments to stop.

(👌) the problem with ALEC-- ALEC is a huge right-wing political lobby that puts corporate interests above the interest of human beings, as it fights gun control, fights healthcare, fights immigration, fights unions, fights public education, fights womens rights, and supports the NRA. The OK hand sign (👌) indicates that the bank supports right-wing extremism through ALEC membership.

(👁) the problem with Tor hostility-- Tor is a tool that helps the privacy of consumers. Banks that block Tor or take hostile actions against customers who use Tor are indicated with an eye (👁). A plus ("+") indicates that the bank allows Tor users to attempt to login (so they can discover which of their customers use Tor), followed by a permanent account denial.

More metrics: to see where these banks stand on gun issues, see https://isyourbankloaded.org.

Who's ethical?

I've not vetted this list myself but it's a start:

Financial institution	Values-based network	Locations
Amalgamated Bank	B Corp, GABV 👁	New York, Washington, D.C.
Aspiration	B Corp 👁	N/A (online only)
Beneficial State Bank	B Corp, GABV, CDFI 👁	California, Oregon, Washington
City First Bank of DC	B Corp, GABV, CDFI	Washington, D.C.
First Green Bank	B Corp, GABV	Florida
Mascoma Savings Bank	B Corp	New Hampshire, Vermont
Missoula Federal Credit Union	GABV, CDFI	Montana
New Resource Bank	B Corp, GABV	California
Southern Bancorp	GABV, CDFI	Arkansas, Mississippi
Spring Bank	B Corp, CDFI	New York
Sunrise Banks	B Corp, GABV, CDFI	Minnesota
Verity Credit Union	GABV	Washington
VCC Bank	B Corp, CDFI	Virginia
VSECU (Vermont State Employees Credit Union)	GABV	Vermont

(👁) Caveat on Aspiration and Amalgamated Bank: they block Tor, which I consider to undermine privacy. Beneficial State Bank sometimes proxies through CloudFlare and thus puts a privacy abuser in the loop.