Impak Finance Says Its Launching Canada’s First Socially Responsible Bank

Friday, October 28, 2016

Consumers are becoming more and more engaged. They want to buy local, from ethical companies with social and environmental aims. They want that transparency, and they want to help to improve our society. This change is also apparent in the banking system, where social enterprises are expanding in Canada and elsewhere; this industry has also seen the emergence of several non-traditional banking models across the planet. A good example is Triodos, a bank in the Netherlands that did not lose a penny through the economic crisis of 2008, as a result of investing solely in the impact economy – that which has a direct impact on the community — rather than the financial economy.

It is from this innovative concept that Paul Allard, in conjunction with ten other entrepreneurs, financiers, and bankers in Montreal, Toronto, and Paris, had the idea to launch what they call Canada’s first socially-responsible Canadian bank: Impak Finance.

“We need to restore more sense and responsibility to the financial system,” said Allard. “In my view, one of the fundamental structural problems…is that the role of banks is neither responsible nor social.”

Source: BetaKit (link opens in a new window)

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corporate social responsibility, crowdfunding, social enterprise