<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/17/22 3:28 PM, Roger Critchlow
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAGayqotKpM0GkY=GfetVcaEFbh79Kurhyadf-Xq0unk_RvcxSA@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Hmm, credit unions were designed to not be in competition
with banks, and so they don't get very big,h and don't have
access to deeper pockets of funding, and don't get gobbled up
by bigger banks, and don't get closed because their service
areas underperform.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't pretend to understand the ins-n-outs of big-finance
logic/regulations. I am merely operating on a naive belief that
access to consumer-level-finance could generally be served well as
a *commodity* offered either by State-Run banking (e.g. Nebraska)
or co-ops which is what I take Credit Unions to be. If there is
excess profit to be had in the game why not feed it back into the
community (of coop members or locality) rather than into Wall
Street?<br>
</p>
<p>With LANB in place I felt I had much of the best of both
worlds... a *very* local but also stable, well-run full-service
bank. I don't believe that *most* communities have anything close
to this. <br>
</p>
<p>I have kept a Credit Union account with an early IRA still held
at nearly 0% interest for decades. When I finally fulfilled my
mortgage at Enterprise last year I considered refinancing through
them for various tax-evasion reasons (and moving my regular
consumer-banking there too) but only half-heartedly. I didn't
put my money where my mouth was... so I am now supporting
Enterprise who I presume to be as much of an egregious Bankster as
any of them, but also too lame (lazy) to really figure it all out.<br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAGayqotKpM0GkY=GfetVcaEFbh79Kurhyadf-Xq0unk_RvcxSA@mail.gmail.com">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>So when big banks look at their branch performance, they
could run all the branches head to head against each other,
but the branches should really be tiered into comparable peer
groups. A branch should score according to its performance
against branches in similar locations, and according to its
contributions to improving the economy around its location.
Otherwise the big bank is just strip mall mining and leaving
finance deserts behind.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>We have enough food/service/??? deserts without adding *finance*
deserts to the list... <br>
</p>
<p>I've looked (weakly) for opportunities to "invest" in programs
where local microlending is key to their portfolio but have not
found much... there are places who are happy to have *donations*
which is a good reminder that maybe I should just quit pretending
to be a capitalist... if I have cash I can afford to lose (e.g.
recent thread-bend on crypto-losses) I suppose I *should* just
gift it to folks I believe are making my community a better place
and stand back and watch the magic (black or white or grey)
happen?</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://farmersmarketinstitute.org/you-can-help/how-to-give/"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://farmersmarketinstitute.org/you-can-help/how-to-give/</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>- Steve<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
</body>
</html>