Costs will for the most part be similar to other banks, except that top salaries will be lower than average, bottom salaries will be higher than average, and we won't be spending a lot on fancy offices. See the business plan for details.
Return on investment, on resale, is limited to the (true) rate of inflation — no dividends. See the sound investment page for details.
Since Common Good Bank is a community-based system, the bank itself does not grow — it just has more and more participating communities. If a community division gets too large for effective discussions, then it will be split into two or more divisions. And no, growth is not necessary for the bank's success.
Expenses and revenue are both projected very conservatively. We hope that the bank can do better, but we don't want to promise more than we can be sure of delivering.
As a local depositor/investor, you get to decide (along with your neighbors) what the nature of the loans will be in your community. It's up to you.
I see and support the ideas of the bank.
How is the bank different from any other bank in terms of costs, salaries, return on investment… and what keeps the bank from getting too large. Does it have to keep growing to stay viable?
Also not clear why exepenses track so closely to gross revenue… I would think economies of scale would be damatic in a community based system…
As a local depositor, or investor, i would want to know the nature of the loans being made in my community.
Good luck!
I want my money to stay in my community, supporting my community businesses, and my community members. As of today's date, I have no options other then my local community credit union. I am so excited to see an alternative model of banking where the vote is made by an actual human being, not by the persons with the most shares in their pocket. I also like that discounts would be given to Common Good members at their local businesses and then the businesses are rewarded twice by our purchase at their store and by the free advertising they receive in compensation. This is an idea that will sweep the nation once it catches on!
[...] the financial system. Become part of the movement for a Common Good Bank. There are a lot of people behind it. Their “Hands-on Democracy” seems very well thought out, but they don’t [...]
I have been a member of two different credit unions for 15 years and 25 years, respectively. I have rarely used a commercial bank in almost that many years. The exception is a safety deposit box which my local credit union does not offer. With the credit unions, I pay NO fees whatsoever, and the CD interest rates at one of the credit unions is very good, especially if you deposit into a 5-year CD / Roth IRA.
The above link will help you locate a credit union in your local area.
I understand that there is a difference between credit union and common good bank. But in the short run at least, people can begin shifting their bank deposits to credit unions while the common good bank concept is evolving. I had one CD that was MBNA, which was later gobbled up by Bank of America. Once the 5 years were up, I had to drive to another state to withdraw the money, which I put into my local credit union. But I am now 100% credit union.
Being that it is time to create what we want to live, it is high time for the Common Good Bank to come into our communities to create a true and viable "money" system that will REALLY be for us innstead of feeding the bankers!!
I love the concept here, but am worried about some of the ideas – I speak with some knowledge here – e launched host2help.com as a community company, and have vry strong goals for its community presence, That said, saying that the 27 cent fee will be carried by the bank, well, I love my bank, and when my account is in the black, they love me, but be it a bank or a CCU, their end goal is the bottom line. Why would a bank want to work at a loss? It may be 'only 27 cents' but if this takes off, and you are looking at tens of thousands of daily transactions, that soon adds up. he other side is cost usage. The 27 cent transaction fee in part pays for that security so if nasty person steals my credit card and spends say $500, I do not have to be $500 out of pocket. How will that be covered here?
I really do not want to sound like a naysayer. I think this is an awesome idea, and I would love to be involved, I just hope there are better fundemental ideas than letting the banks carry the cost – to put this in another light:
host2help.com (my company) is a web host. All web sites need to be 'stored' on a web host. We are different – we give 1/ of all our revenue to good causes chosen by our clients, and another 1/3 to our reseller (thus allowing anyone to earn a sustainable income). This seriously impedes our bottom line – we still have to offer the best available services. These costs all have to be carried in house. I do not think my competitors (locally or globally) would look at what I am doing and say "Awesome – that’s a great idea – here let me carry some of your costs” (Although, it would be nice if they did!)
Again, I truly do not want to be down playing thins – there is a great idea here, I just hope all the details are worked out.
William, since the Common Good Card will be used only for transactions between Common Good Bank account holders, we need not go through the Visa/MasterCard network. The transaction will cost the Common Good Bank almost nothing to process. In the short term, we will probably go through the network but process the transaction as an "informational transaction" at a flat cost of 27 cents per transaction (paid to the Visa/MasterCard network). That temporary cost will come out of the Common Good Bank's profits, rather than out of the merchant's.
There are several things of great interest to me. I am especially intrigued by the free credit card processing for local banks. How can that be achieved with the current visa/mastercard monopoly.
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