Bank Accounts with B Corporations (UK)

Being a Certified B Corporation means that your bank meets high social and environmental performance standards, operating with accountability and transparency.

There are a number of banks and financial service providers in the UK who are B Corps, including two of the oldest private banks and one of the newest banking-as-a-service platforms as well.  DOS & Co. is a Certified B Corporation and provides zero-risk, high-interest savings to private clients, charities and other B Corps.

Why Bank with a B Corp?

B Corporations are profit-making companies that balance the interests of all of their stakeholders (including customers, workers, the environment and their communities).  

Banks that are B Corps believe in not just profit, but that people, planet and profit are equally important to long-term success and sustainability.  In order to become a B Corp, banks must undertake the rigorous third-party certification, scoring a minimum of 80 points on the B Impact Assessment.

For businesses that are considering becoming B Corps, there are further advantages.  On the B Impact Assessment, 2.14 points are available for banking with a Certified B Corporation - the question in particular is "What characteristics apply to the financial institution that provides the majority of your company's banking services?"

Banking with an independently-owned bank can increase your score by 1.07, but banking with a Certified B Corporation gives you the full 2.14 points.  Given that 80 points are required in order to achieve certification, this is a helpful step up for simply choosing a financial service provider with purpose.

Banks that are B Corps (UK)

There are, at the time of writing, 8 UK-registered banks and financial institutions that have qualified as Certified B Corporations.  We give a short run-down of them here.

Charity Bank (B Corp since 2014)

Charity Bank is the original UK B Corp bank - it is a savings and loan bank with a mission to use money for good - they use the money that savers deposit in order to make loans to UK charities, social enterprises and organisations with charitable purposes.

They offer savings accounts and loans.

Triodos Bank (B Corp since 2015)

Triodos Bank is a bank with a purpose, only lending money to organisations in the real economy who are working to bring about positive and lasting change.  They won't lend money to any organisations that put profit before people and planet, including any businesses involved in trading weapons, tobacco, pornography, fur, fossil fuels and the gambling industry.

Coutts & Co. (B Corp since 2021)

Coutts is a private bank that caters to the very wealthy - it has been around since 1692, offering banking and wealth management services.  They were the first of a new wave of existing banks that became Certified B Corps in the 2020's.  At the time of writing, clients must maintain at least £1m in investments or borrowing (mortgage) or £3m in deposits to be able to open an account.

They offer the full suite of banking and wealth management services to private clients and businesses.

C. Hoare & Co. (B Corp since 2022)

C. Hoare & Co. is another private bank catering to the very wealthy.  It's been a family business since 1672 and is the UK's oldest privately-owned bank, having been owned by the Hoare family for 12 generations.  They offer personal and business accounts, lending and managed philanthropy services.  They don't publicise their minimum asset requirements.

DOS & Co. (B Corp since 2023)

DOS & Co. is not actually a bank, but it does offer zero-risk, high-interest savings cash deposits as part of its family office advisory business.  The accounts are available to private clients, businesses, charities and independent schools who seek a return on their substantial cash deposits (from £1m+) but without any risk.

Cambridge & Counties Bank (B Corp since 2023)

Launched in 2012, Cambridge & Counties Bank is owned by Trinity Hall, Cambridge and the Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund. It offers savings, property and asset financing services to businesses.

Coventry Building Society (B Corp since 2023)

Coventry Building Society offers savings and mortgages.  On 1st January 2025, they also acquired the Co-Operative Bank.

Griffin (B Corp since 2024)

Griffin is a bank for financial services institutions, offering embedded banking, safeguarding and client money accounts.

B Corp Bank Accounts

It's relatively difficult to operate day-to-day banking with a B Corp in the UK.  You will either need to be very wealthy and bank with Coutts or C. Hoare & Co., or to bank with the Co-Operative Bank once it completes its integration into the Coventry Building Society family (assuming that it goes on to do so).

B Corp Savings Accounts

Depositing your savings with a B Corp in the UK is much easier, however.  Almost all of the B Corps listed above offer savings accounts, though only one of them doesn't lend out your savings - DOS & Co.

In fact, DOS & Co.'s cash deposit savings proposition is quite different.  Open to private clients, businesses and charities, the cash deposit manager product is a zero-risk, high-interest savings proposition.

Zero-Risk

If you deposit savings with DOS & Co., they open an account at the Bank of England into which your savings can be paid - these savings sit there, liquid and unencumbered, segregated and safeguarded simply generating interest.  There is no risk, because your funds will not be used for anything else at all.  

Even in the unlikely event of DOS & Co.'s insolvency, because your funds are safeguarded, they are kept entirely separately from DOS & Co.'s own funds and would not be available to DOS & Co.'s creditors.

No FSCS Limit

While the accounts that DOS & Co. opens are protected to the FSCS limit in the usual way, because they are safeguarded and not used for lending or any other purposes, the limit is irrelevant - there is no limit to the amount of your money that is protected and kept safe for you.

From £1m+

DOS & Co.'s product is not for everyone - there is a minimum deposit amount of £1 million (which must be maintained for at least the first three months, after which there is no minimum balance) - this makes it suitable for businesses and wealthy private clients, as well as schools, charities and other organisations who regularly carry large cash balances.