The Bad Bank Boycott

Transparency, rather - lack of transparency. Lack of transparency from big corporations means people cannot access all the information they need to make informed decisions. And the banking sector is particularly secretive, especially when it comes to what they do with our money when they think we aren't looking. There are now some very good tools out there to help lift the veil of secrecy, and I want every accountant and bookkeeper to learn about these tools as quickly as possible.

I am the founder of Kung Fu Accounting and also founder of Counting Change. Barclays Boycott Kung Fu Accounting was the first UK accounting firm to establish a "bad bank boycott" - we are Barclays-free, and committed to not working with client companies that bank with Barclays. Not only have we followed a process to move all clients away from Barclays, we're now working through other bad banks - HSBC is next on our list for 2025. Impact - share the lessons The magic bit - the truly impactful bit - is that we have inspired other accounting firms to review their client portfolios and shared information about how and why we've decided to boycott Barclays. I created a playbook for other accounting businesses to follow, but getting the word out has been very slow in this traditional industry! The opportunity I believe if more accountants and bookkeepers knew about this, it would transform the conversations we have with our clients, and begin to apply significant pressure on banks to; a) be more transparent b) move away more quickly from fossil fuel investments It would also change the our industry, from one of handle-cranking compliance, to something way more powerful; something that has the power to change our planet's future. The hack We need to create powerful imagery, messaging and a home (website?). And most importantly, we need to fund people's time to actively campaign on this topic, targetting humans working in accounting businesses. How? Our pitch is short, direct, and easy to understand; Part 1 - "Do you know what your bank does with your money? No? Go to bank.green, let's do it right now, and enter your bank to find out. It takes 30 seconds". Part 2 - "What do you think your clients would do if they know about bank.green?" Part 3 - "Would you like to have our playbook to learn how we're moving our clients away from the worst, most polluting, banks?" Part 4 (after the funding arrives!) - "Go to ___website yet to be built___, to find out exactly how we're doing this". The impact Best case scenario - we put Barclays out of business. And we motivate all banks to review and reconsider the nature of their investments. The funding We will use our funding to; - build a website and create an online home for the community, and the Bad Bank Boycott campaign (£3k) - create a targeted campaign for online and in person, to include marketing assets and campaing planning for online, in person, telemarketing and via email (circa £3k) - execute the campaign - offering our members funding to cover the time they give to the cause. Currently thinking that for every hour their organisations give to the campaign, we'll pay them 50% of their usual hourly rate, up to a maximum of £50 per hour (£7k) - monitor, evaluate and report on campaign performance (£2k)

Our clients move away from bad banks. Bad banks get a powerful message about what the market wants them to invest in. Better banks get more business, more clients, more funding, and can increase the positive impact of their investments. And; the accounting industry becomes a spearhead for positive change, opening up a world of conversations with their clients beyond the finances, about what it means to be an Earthling running a business in 2024.