Ethical Banking in Spain: Does an Organisational Identity Exist That Distinguishes It from Conventional Banking?

Abstract

Ethical banking has developed considerably in recent years. However, neither a universally accepted definition, nor a consensus by academicians about its typical characteristics yet exists to differentiate it from conventional banking. The purpose of this article is to bridge this gap in the literature using the notion of organisational identity, according to which an organisation is identified by a series of characteristics and attributes that differentiate it from other organisations. The case of Spanish ethical banking is analysed by examining the three main references in this country: Triodos Bank, Fiare and Coop57. The results allowed us to conclude that, despite no consensus on an ethical banking definition, an organisational identity does exist for ethical banking in Spain, which is defined according to the principles of integrity, responsibility and affinity.

Keywords:

• Ethical banking
• social banking
• social finance
• organisational identity

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.triodos.es/es; https://www.fiarebancaetica.coop; https://www.coop57.coop/es

2 https://www.somostriodos.com

3 https://www.fiarebancaetica.coop/blog

4 https://www.coop57.coop/es/documentacion/boletines//