Like any new awareness, once recognized, it is difficult to “unlearn.” (You can’t “unring” a bell.)  I began to assess our family’s options, and as I looked at different banks, I became aware of several other realities.   

• I couldn’t find any bank that informed its customers what it did with their customers’ money.

• Banks make loans which finance all sorts of high emission industries.

• I couldn’t find a bank that allocated all of their deposits to loans that only lowered emissions.

• Banks in the U.S. hold $17 trillion in deposits, and that enables them to lend out approximately $17 trillion in loans (or purchase securities). Almost all banks don’t take into account emissions when evaluating loans.

And then I thought...  

What If:

• Banks were transparent about what they did with our money?   

• Consumers and businesses had a choice?  Would they put their money with a bank that was aligned with their desire to combat climate change?   

• Enough customers moved their money from traditional banks to banking options that allocated their money to reducing emissions?   

To find the answers to these questions, I realized we needed to create such a solution.  And thus, the Journey To Ando had begun...