Social responsibility

How we use our members' money makes all of the difference.

Responsible and ethical investment

The Bank strives to provide quality services to members via ethical and prudent lending practices that are financially, socially and environmentally sustainable.

  • Investing for the future

    As one of Australia’s largest mutual banks, we understand the importance of money. When it is invested responsibly, it can make all the difference to the world around us. We apply strict social responsibility criteria when it comes to investing and lending our members’ money.

    We make sure Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues are embedded in our lending and investment practices, and written in our Treasury Credit Risk and Lending Risk Policy.

    Socially responsible lending exclusions

    When members deposit funds with us, we don’t want their hard-earned money to fund businesses who don’t have our world’s best interests at heart.

    Various lending opportunities are disqualified from the Bank’s lending origination business. Such exclusions are where the primary purpose of the entity or business is alcohol, armaments, correctional facilities, cryptocurrency, deforestation or gross environmental degradation, gambling, military activities, political activities, pornography, slavery, tobacco or uranium.

    We don’t lend to the fossil fuel industry

    The Bank does not use members’ deposits to directly lend to, buy equity or debt in, any large-scale greenhouse polluting activities from fossil fuel exploration, extraction, production and use. The Bank has zero direct investment in any large-scale greenhouse polluting activity or company.

    Pioneering ethical investment

    We pioneered ethical investment when we became the first Australian financial institution to have its entire wholesale debt issuance program ethically certified by RIAA in June 2015. It is the first certified wholesale cash product in Australia and also the first based on fossil fuel exclusion.

    Certified retail and wholesale funds

    The Bank’s $1 billion Debt Issuance Program (DIP) for wholesale investors is a Certified Ethical Investment by the RIAA. The cash proceeds raised are used to fund the Bank’s balance sheet.2 As of July 1, issuance has reached $420 million. All new retail mortgage and deposit products sold by the Bank since December 2018 are Certified Responsible Investment.

    Retail mortgages and deposits have been certified by RIAA according to the strict operational and disclosure practices required under the Responsible Investment Certification Program. See www.responsibleinvestment.org for details1.

    A $3.5 billion opportunity

    Being one of the first Australian banks to certify its retail deposits, mortgages, and wholesale funding, this will create billions of dollars of responsible and ethical investment. RIAA Certification could generate more than $3.5 billion of socially responsible investment for the bank over the next three years.

    This announcement demonstrates Teachers Mutual Bank Limited’s determination to champion responsible investment. We’re acting on our values and aligning our business practices with our members’ expectations. We’re not a bank that has to be forced to do the right thing for our members by regulation, our members know we work for them alone. That’s the standard our community should expect of all banks.
    Steve James, CEO