We do urge you to try calling first, for the biggest impact. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, however, then writing an email or a letter is still a great step you can take.

This template has been created to inspire you, but please write something in your words, with specific information about the bank you are addressing. Original emails or letters can make a bigger impact. Companies quickly develop automation strategies to deal with waves of templated emails or letters, but these strategies cannot be applied to unique ones. This means that personalizing your message will make handling and responding to it more time-consuming for the bank, so you'll make a bigger impact.

If it is your own bank you are addressing, you should of course customize it as such, and can also verbiage about being prepared to move your money out, if indeed you are.

Dear XXX,

I am writing to you because I am increasingly concerned about your investment decisions and what this means for your customers' money.

I have recently discovered that your engagement with the fossil fuels industry continues, with nothing to suggest that you are making sufficient changes to align with a sustainable planet. It is now extremely clear that the extraction and burning of fossil fuels is heating our planet. If this activity is not halted, our futures will become increasingly unstable. I am sure you can appreciate that I would not want mine or anyone else's personal funds to be contributing to such a future.

Furthermore, supporting an industry with declining prospects does not seem economically viable.

This activity leads me to question your decision-making, as well as your regard for me as a customer/potential customer.

I would like to know if you plan to stop enabling the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. If you do intend to stop, please lay out your plan and the timeline to me.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

XXX

If you prefer in-person communication, you could book an appointment with the manager at your local bank branch. Face-to-face is often the most engaging and rewarding method of interaction we have, so starting a conversation with a fossil bank in this way is particularly powerful.

• This process varies by bank, but a large proportion of banks now allow you to open an account from their website, often in as little as 10 minutes.
• Whether you open an account online or by visiting a branch, you should have on hand two forms of identification.

• First, identify the automatic deposits (such as your salary) and debits (such as monthly subscriptions) that are present on your existing account.
• Many banks now perform these transfers for you, so ask your current and new banks whether they can help with them. If not, you will need to set these up again manually with your new bank.

• You will need to pay off any credit card or other debts associated with your old account before you can close it. Make a plan for doing this.
• In cases where you might hold other financial products with your bank, speak with your representative about how closing your account might affect them and make a plan to address this.

• Before doing this, make sure you have double-checked that all automatic payments have been transferred across and that you have no outstanding payments or checks that haven't cleared yet.
• Once confirmed, you can transfer your funds over. Doing this electronically is fastest and usually preferable to doing it with a check.

• Call or email your old bank's customer service department and ask for them to close your account. Ask to receive written confirmation of the closure, by email or letter, so you can be sure your account was actually closed.
• Switching to a bank that doesn't finance fossil fuels is a hugely important climate action in and of itself. But the action can be amplified greatly by letting your old bank know why you are leaving them. After all, if you move your money but don't tell your old bank why, they won't feel any pressure to change.

If you choose to do this while on the phone with your bank's customer service, be sure to ask them to log your concern along with the closure. For maximum impact, however, we suggest also asking them for the appropriate email address to write to, then sending a customized version of the below template:

Dear XXX,

I recently closed my [bank name] accounts and I would like to explain why.

While I was your customer, I became increasingly concerned over your continued engagement with the fossil fuels industry. Thousands of scientists from around the world have said that if we continue to heat Earth's atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, it will become increasingly difficult to live on this planet. I do not want my money to enable such a future, so I decided to put it elsewhere.

My wish is for my actions and this letter to make [bank name] urgently reconsider its activities. If [bank name] invests for the good of our environment, it will in turn be investing in its customers, not to mention its business.

I hope that it doesn't take many more messages like mine for [bank name] to stop investing in environmentally destructive activities, such as the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. These decisions are no longer morally responsible or financially viable.

I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Yours sincerely, XXXX

Account number: XXXXXXXX

Lastly, letting your new bank or credit union know why you are joining them will encourage them to speak up more about the impact of fossil fuel finance. It will also put further pressure on the fossil banks to reform.

• Nobody enjoys being told what to do and it doesn't work anyway. You'll probably both end up feeling annoyed.
• All you can do is explain your feelings and decisions, then answer any questions.

• Everybody has their own motivations, especially when it comes to money.
• Guilt is not an effective motivating emotion.
• If you deliver your opinions in a neutral, open way, you'll probably discover that your message will slowly get through in the following weeks or months.

• Don't focus on how terrible or morally corrupt banks are. We are all a part of this system, we are all somehow implicated in the destruction of our environment.
• Instead, focus on the good that socially responsible banks can achieve, or how our world would be if more of our money was invested in improving the environment.

• Recent history has shown us that creating sides and pushing the blame on "the others" does not get results.
• Try to find common ground, whether it be with your friends and family, or with your bank.

• Explain the personal journey you have been on with the issues that Bank.Green raises.
• We all respond to stories, because they help us to make sense of the world we live in.

• Many think that switching bank accounts is difficult, messy, and that we might somehow lose money.
• Just like most other administrative tasks, it may take a few hours and you will need to make a few decisions.
• In comparison to, for example, switching to a plant-based diet, or lobbying your local politician to prioritize the environment, changing your bank account is less work and has a smaller impact on your day-to-day life.

• Try to forget about your agenda, or how you're going to win the argument.
• If you concentrate on listening, the quality of your conversation will improve, and you'll have a better understanding of where your friend or family member is coming from, which will probably lead to better outcomes.