With a growing movement of people looking to do Good with their money, sustainable banks are offering incentives for you to spread the word and encourage friends and family to make the switch. From cash incentives to charity donations and tree planting, we’ve rounded up the top 4 green ‘Refer a Friend’ schemes.
NB: Make sure you follow the instructions from your provider when you refer a friend so you qualify for the incentive.
Triodos Bank
To help grow its sustainable banking community, Triodos will donate £25 to a charity on your behalf when you refer a friend. It will also send a £60 voucher to your friend, or make a charity donation to the same value on their behalf, when they open a personal current account. New customers can choose which reward they receive. Once the friend you referred has opened their Triodos account and deposited £100 within 30 days, you both receive your thank you gift.
Starling Bank
When you ‘plant a seed’ by referring a friend – and they open an account – Starling Bank will plant a real one and grow a tree as a thank you. To get the green ball rolling, it has made a one-off donation to Trillion Trees for 2014 trees to be planted. Why 2014? It’s the year Starling first began – when it planted its very first seed.
To make sure the referral is counted and your tree gets planted, you will need to send a referral link through your Starling Bank app. You friend will need to click on this to apply for their account. Once their application is accepted, your tree will be planted.
Top 5 ethical current accounts
Metro Bank
The UK’s biggest challenger bank, Metro, recently launched its first ever switching offer. Existing Metro Bank customers can receive up to £250 each by referring their friends to open a Metro Bank account using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS). Existing customers will receive £50 for every friend that switches, up to a maximum of £250 if five friends switch. New customers that switch to the bank will also receive £50.
To get qualify, existing Metro Bank customers must register here. Once registered, they will receive a unique code to share with friends and family. The offer runs until 11 December 2020, with full terms and conditions available on the bank’s website.
CIRCA5000 (previously tickr)
This last one isn’t a bank, but it does do guaranteed Good with your money and has a great referral scheme in place.
Sustainable investing app CIRCA5000 commits to planting a tree in Indonesia for every successful referral you make. It will also give you and your friend £5 each to invest. You’ll be sent the exact coordinates for the tree on a map, so you can see the real positive impact of the extra signup. CIRCA5000 co-founder Tom McGillycuddy said: “Our ultimate goal is to have millions of people investing every month. Imagine the positive impact we can achieve with that.”
Get £5 to invest in CIRCA5000 by signing up here
