What we finance
Money can change the world
Triodos Bank is a leading expert in sustainable banking. Our mission is to make money work for positive change. We are more than a bank. We are a community. Get to know us and join the movement for change.
12% growth in sustainable lending in 2020
728,000 customers and active in five European countries
8.4M visitors enjoy cultural events in 2020
75% of assets in the real economy
Make money work for positive, social, environmental and cultural change.
Triodos Bank is in business to help create a society that protects and promotes the quality of life of all its members, and that has human dignity at its core. Since 1980, we have enabled individuals, organisations and businesses to use their money in ways that benefit people and the environment. We promote sustainable development by offering our customers sustainable financial products and high quality service.
A clear compass and solid foundation for values-based banking
We only finance companies that focus on people, the environment or culture.
We believe that people who entrust us with money need to know what we are doing with their money. That's why we show them that on Know where your money goes.
As a bank, we want the quality of our products and services to be among the best in the banking sector.
​​​​​​​We are constantly working to develop innovative ways to finance sustainable entrepreneurs, companies and initiatives.
How we make money work for positive change
Find out about Triodos Bank's unique sustainable approach to banking for positive impact, which enables us to achieve our mission and sets us apart from our competitors.
Profit is not an objective in itself
In essence, Triodos Bank aims to maximise sustainability, embracing the need to be profitable but only as a means to a sustainable end. Profit can be seen as a yardstick. It shows an organisation is working efficiently, but says nothing about the content and the impact of what it is doing.
Triodos Bank uses a three-tier approach to making lending and investment decisions, which starts with evaluating the content of an activity and focuses on its sustainable impact. The first thing to consider is 'How can this contribute to positive social, environmental and cultural change?' Next comes the important question 'Is it viable?' And thirdly: 'is the idea rooted in society – is it supported by those around the entrepreneur?' If the professional judgement is correct, financial and social profit should follow almost automatically.
Reappraise the role of money and its place in the economy
Our approach to lending and investment decisions represents a radical departure from conventional financial institutions. Using our three-tier approach means re-appraising the role of our money and its place in the economy. And it goes further, because thinking like this means looking inwardly to assess what's truly valuable. There are a number of positive trends emerging in this respect. There is growing awareness that we only have one earth to live on, and we need to work together to secure our long term future on it.
Impact, Risk and Return – an Integrated Business
Traditionally banks have focused on risk and return, primarily to avoid negative outcomes, and to enable investors to understand the performance of a particular institution. Risk and return tend to be seen in a short term context, particularly when an institution sees its main goal as maximising returns to shareholders. It's a perspective that sees a company through the narrow lens of its financial performance only; and it neglects a company's wider relationship with – and impact on – society and the environment.
So Triodos Bank uses impact, risk and return to understand its overall development and place in the world around it. This necessarily means it has a positive, long-term perspective. Because if you are focused on delivering sustainable social, environmental and cultural impact as well as risk and return – as Triodos Bank is – your horizon is inherently longer-term and has a positive, holistic outlook.
Triodos Bank wants to deliver sustainable impact. When we talk about 'Impact' we are concerned with what our actions, in particular financing and facilitating investments, mean concretely to people. Impact means delivering positive outcomes, not only on a transactional level but also on a social, ecological system level.
Because our starting point is to deliver greater impact over the long term, it is essential that we are financially resilient and that, as an outcome, we have consistently been focussing on a high quality loan portfolio. Triodos Bank's modest risk appetite is an important building block towards this resilience.
Triodos Bank has been able to deliver stable, fair returns over a sustained period. For Triodos Bank, financial performance is important because being a resilient financial institution is essential to delivering lasting, sustainable change.
To deliver Impact, Risk and Return we have a unique sustainable approach:
We have a simple business model: We only lend money entrusted to us by savers and investors, to entrepreneurs we know well. We only work in the real economy and we don't invest in complex financial instruments.
We don't have a Corporate Sustainability Department. Our aim is to lend our customers' money for 100% to people and organisations working to make the world a better place. We actively seek out and promote sustainable, entrepreneurial businesses driven by values and ideas. Our lending criteria reflect this positive approach - rather than just detailing which businesses we exclude because they do harm.
We believe that sustainable banking depends on trust and transparency, so we publish details of the organisations we lend to; which means our savers and investors can see how we're using their money. Explore Know where your money goes.
You can do more with your money
Our approach to banking is different. We work with organisations that contribute to positive social, environmental and cultural change.
Close pop-up
Triodos Bank lends money only to organisations working to bring about positive and lasting change. Therefore, clearly defined criteria guide our everyday lending decisions, and make us accountable to our savers and investors.
Our lending strategy
Our positive approach to sustainable lending involves:
identifying sustainable sectors where we can stimulate innovation in business
selecting businesses and projects that will provide real social, cultural or environmental benefits
evaluating both the quality of the application and the motivation of the people applying for loans
ensuring selected projects meet our absolute criteria, which measure their potential effect on people or planet
financing clearly defined activities or projects within each organisation
monitoring closely how a loan is used
Business principles48 KB, PDF
Who won't we lend to?
We won't lend to any organisation that puts profit before people and planet. More specifically, the absolute criteria we apply in making lending decisions come under two main headings:
Non-sustainable products and services
This includes all businesses involved in producing or trading in weapons, tobacco, pornography, fur or environmentally hazardous substances. It also covers the gambling industry.
Non-sustainable working processes
This covers everything from animal testing and inhumane farming methods, through corruption and support for dictatorial regimes, to breaches of fundamental labour rights.
In addition to our positive approach to lending, Triodos Bank maintains a list of exclusions to clarify which activities it will not finance nor invest in.
Minimum standards72 KB, PDF
Triodos Bank connects savers and investors who want to change the world with sustainable entrepreneurs, organisations and companies in selected sectors. We have built a track record financing organisations that work in the nature and environment sectors, social business, culture and welfare.
Triodos Bank believes profit doesn't need to be at the expense of the environment. That's why we're helping our clients make a positive difference to the environment we share.
Triodos Bank believes that culture is a powerful force for positive change, driving creativity and innovation in business, and providing lasting opportunities for personal development.
The social businesses we finance work to improve and enrich the lives of millions of people; tackling inequality and injustice. And developing strong communities in the process.
Read more about our impact themes
Triodos Bank is an independent bank
Triodos Bank believes it's crucial that its mission and identity is protected. How we direct, administer and control our work says a lot about our identity. To safeguard our special character and mission we do not have shareholders but Depository Receipt Holders, and are not listed on a stock exchange.
View our governance and meet the boards
A vision on sustainability since 1968
View our history
The first incarnation of what would become Triodos Bank, emerges when economist Adriaan Deking Dura, tax law professor Dieter Brüll, management consultant Lex Bos and banker Rudolf Mees form a study group to research how money can be managed sustainably.
Triodos Foundation is established using gifts and loans, aimed at supporting innovative projects and companies. Sister foundations have since been set up in various other European countries.
Triodos Bank N.V. is founded in the Netherlands with EUR 540,000 in start-up share capital and a full banking licence from the Dutch Central Bank.
Triodos Bank Belgium is the first branch to launch outside the Netherlands.
Triodos Bank United Kingdom is established.
The Triodos Added Value Fund is introduced and a host of other sustainable investment opportunities follow over the years.
Triodos Bank's investment proposition is further expanded through Triodos Investment Management, a full subsidiary of Triodos Bank.
Triodos Bank is established in Spain.
International headquarters opens in the Netherlands.
Triodos Bank co-founds the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a network of independent banks that use finance to deliver sustainable economic, social and environmental development.
The German branch opens in Frankfurt.
The Sustainable Finance Lab Foundation is established by Triodos Bank, Utrecht University and the Utrecht Sustainability Institute, to support a stable and robust financial sector that contributes to an economy that serves humanity without depleting its environment.
Triodos Finance starts: an intermediary for Triodos Bank N.V. in France.
Triodos Bank creates positive, sustainable impact.
Finance change. Change finance.
Our vision on impact reflects our mission. We finance progressive entrepreneurs and influence the banking sector to become more transparent, diverse and sustainable.
More about our impact
109 institutions in Inclusive Finance in 47 countries in 2020
33M the equivalent organic meals produced per year as a result of Triodos Bank finance in 2020
We create positive change through lending, investing and giving
Find out more about Triodos Bank near you
The NetherlandsBelgiumSpainUnited KingdomGermanyInvestment ManagementTriodos Finance | FranceTriodos Foundation NetherlandsTriodos Fundación Spain