When it comes to your personal finances, there are lots of banking options to choose from. But if you’re someone who cares about the climate and how your banking decisions affect the environment, there are only a few options worth considering. 

Traditional big banks are notorious supporters of big oil and other environmentally harmful initiatives. Many of the largest banks in the world use their customers’ money to finance extractive projects. Most other banks try to stay neutral on the topic while silently funding many industries and businesses with high carbon intensities. 

With the introduction of climate and financial technologies, now’s the time to switch to a bank that takes your own values seriously. Atmos stands out as the most climate-positive alternative in the world.

If you’re ready to take the leap and join the values-aligned and environmentally-responsible banking movement, just follow the steps below to switch banks.

‍

Step by Step: How To Switch Banks

‍

1. Choose your new bank

‍

When deciding on what bank to switch to, the first thing to consider is what type of services provider you prefer. The three main types of financial institution you can choose from are:

• Local community bank
• Credit union
• Online bank
  

Each of these three types have their own unique benefits. For example, if you’re someone who likes to do some of your personal banking in a physical branch, you might prefer a local community bank or credit union over an online bank. 

On the other hand, if you’re the type of person who does all their transactions online and through mobile banking apps, an online bank could be perfect for you. 

Pro tip:  You don’t need to choose just one banking provider. It’s simple and often beneficial to connect multiple bank accounts and transfer money back-and-forth as you need it. Choosing multiple services providers will allow you to take advantage of different feature sets to ensure you’re getting all of the banking services you’ll need. 

Once you have a new bank or credit union in mind, you should thoroughly investigate their webpage and search for some third-party articles or other sources of information about the financial institution. To ensure your banking provider takes sustainability seriously, take time to review their business practices, what loans they make and how their deposit products promote sustainability. By reading things like their mission statement, the “about” section, and additional information on the bank’s website, you can get a pretty good idea of what they’re all about.

‍

Here are some key pieces of information to look out for/questions to ask when you’re looking at new banking options:

• What types of projects and loans do they support with your funds? 
• What types of projects do they not support? 
• Will you actually be able to see where your money is going? 
• What are the cash-back rewards or interest?
• Can you move money freely and easily?
• What are the monthly maintenance costs? 
• Do they offer all or most of the services you need?
• Do you need multiple savings accounts?
• Do you need automatic transactions or enable recurring transfers?
• Do you need a safety deposit box?
• Does your new financial institution have a minimum balance or overdraft fee?
  

After you’ve found the answers to all of the above questions, it should be much easier to narrow down your choice of bank.

2. Sign up for the type of bank account you want to open

‍

Most financial institutions offer the two main types of bank accounts: savings and checking accounts. 

Depending on your needs, you may choose to open one or both types of accounts to get started. 

If you’re planning on using your new bank primarily for day-to-day purchases and expenses, you probably want to start with something like a cash-back checking account. You can always open a savings account later on once you get settled in your new bank!

However, if you already have substantial savings in your old bank account and you’ve found a better higher yielding option, you should probably go ahead and open a new savings account to transfer that money over right away.

Depending on the bank or credit union you choose to go with, the process of opening a new account can vary.

Some local banks and credit unions require you to go into a brick-and-mortar branch to open an account for the first time, though many are offering the option to open accounts online, too.

Online banks, naturally, only give you the option to open an account online, via their website and/or mobile app.

Either way, you should be able to find all the information about how to open a new bank account on your chosen financial institutions website or by contacting their customer service.

3. Transfer funds from your old bank account to your new one

‍

As soon as you’ve opened your new bank account, the first thing you should do is transfer your funds. After you do this, you’ll be free to close your old account, but it’s probably a good idea to wait a few weeks to close down your old account until you’re sure all of your banking services have been transferred over!

In most cases, you should be able to transfer all or some of your money online in a few simple steps. If you’re not sure how to do this, you can always contact your new bank (over the phone, chat, email or by going into a physical branch) and ask them to help set the transfer up for you.

Set up direct deposit so you start funding your new bank account instead of your old account.

Depending on both financial institutions, the transfer can take anywhere from one to three days. Verify that all your funds appear in your new account and that your old accounts are empty before you consider closing your old accounts, but again, it’s probably a good idea to keep that old account open for a few weeks before closing it.

Once your new account is funded, order a debit card.

4. Set up automatic payments and/or direct deposits as needed

‍

Now that you have funds sitting in your new bank account, it’s time to make sure you don’t miss any bills and obligations.

Start by making a list of any and all automatic bill payments you had set up for your old bank account. Some examples of these are:

• Rent
• Car insurance
• Health insurance
• Gym memberships
• Magazine/news subscriptions
• Direct deposits from employers

Pro tip:  If your new bank has a virtual debit card option, consider setting up ongoing payments via your virtual card. A virtual card will ensure that your checking account information stays safe, and payments are never at risk or interrupted, even if you lose your physical card and need to get that replaced. 

Once you’re sure you didn’t leave anything out, go through the list and change your account information for the automatic payments. 

You can usually do this by logging into your account on the relevant company’s website and going to the payment details section. If you run into any troubles, just contact customer service and ask them for assistance.

5. Close your old account

‍

With all the administrative details taken care of, there’s one final step to take: closing your old account! Yay! 

Before you finalize the process of switching your bank, double-check everything to make sure you didn’t miss any part of any of the above steps.

Once you’re positive that everything is all in order, close your old bank account via your online banking portal or mobile app, or by going into your local bank branch and asking a teller to close your account for you.

And that’s all there is to it! You can now start enjoying the benefits of your new bank and rest easier knowing that your money is making a positive environmental impact, instead of being used to support fossil fuel extraction and other climate-negative actions.

Join Atmos Today

‍

Atmos Financial is the world’s most climate-positive banking alternative. 

With Atmos, your money NEVER supports big oil, fast fashion, industrial agriculture, or any other environmentally harmful initiatives. Atmos takes their sustainability promise even further by allocating all of your money towards emission-reducing things and climate-positive projects like renewable energy. 

When you check your balance on Atmos, you can see the impact it's making in terms of tons of CO2 emissions it’s helping remove from the atmosphere.

Apply for an Atmos cash-back checking account and high-yield savings account in just a minute and join others fighting climate change through their personal finance choices.