Climate-Conscious Bank Customers

We study how retail depositors behave when their bank is publicly accused of contributing to climate change by funding fossil fuel companies. Using data on environmental NGO campaigns targeting French banks between 2010 and 2020, we construct a time-varying index of each bank’s “brown” reputation. We combine this measure with granular data on household deposits to assess how such reputational shocks affect deposit demand. Sight deposits decline following negative publicity, and the effect becomes significantly stronger after a 2017 reform that removed transaction costs for switching checking accounts between banks. Last, using a large sample of new mortgage loans, we also show that browner banks face a relatively lower demand for housing loans and adjust by offering slightly lower loan rates. The results suggest that depositors act on their environmental preferences when frictions affecting bank mobility are low enough.