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The Solution

A simple solution to re-building financial strength in your community is to support YOUR local community bank or credit union. The process is an easy one. The benefits to communities are profound.

EMPOWERING YOUR COMMUNITY

We have given power to our current monetary system by embracing it. This system has done what it does best … generate more power from its continued support. To create a resilient community, we need to support it. One of the best ways is to BANK LOCALLY. It is a step in the right direction. If enough people choose to bank locally, profound changes can take place for the betterment of communities worldwide.

“To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Buckminster Fuller

BETTER FOR BUSINESS … BETTER FOR THE ECONOMY … BETTER FOR YOU

Open an account with your local community bank or credit union and close your bank account with any bank whose profits are not used to benefit your community. One of the reasons large central banks have become so big and powerful and post such huge profits is that their are used by so many people at the expense of their own community.

By going local first with our spending, both as individuals and businesses, we can support the success of small local businesses that are the prime candidates for local lending. With successful businesses come successful business owners and increased employment opportunities, creating more qualified candidates for home and other loans. This virtuous cycle is the key to creating enduring well-being for all members of the community.

GET BUSINESSES IN YOUR COMMUNITY TO BANK LOCALLY

Use ‘people power’ and creative leverage. Use an ‘I Bank Locally’ window decal. It is a powerful tool and highly effective if combined with an advertising campaign to promote an ‘I Bank Locally’ program. In its simplicity, here is how it works:

1. Businesses that bank locally in your community display an ‘I Bank Locally’ customized window decals at their premises.
2. People know which businesses bank locally and can then choose who they support and buy their goods and services from.
3. Businesses that don’t bank locally can be encouraged by community members to switch to local banking.

BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS

1. Get the Same Services at Lower Cost

Most locally owned banks and credit unions offer the same array of services, from online bill paying to debit and credit cards, at much lower cost than big banks. Average fees at small banks and credit unions are substantially lower than at big banks, according to national data. Studies show that small financial institutions also offer, on average, better interest rates on savings and better terms on credit cards and other loans.

2. Put Your Money to Work Growing Your Local Economy

Small businesses, which create the majority of new jobs, depend heavily on small, local banks for financing. Although small and mid-sized banks control less than one-quarter of all bank assets, they account for more than half of all small business lending. Big banks, meanwhile, allocate relatively few of their resources to small businesses. The largest banks, which now control 57 percent of all bank assets, devote only 18 percent of their commercial loan portfolios to small business.

3. Keep Decision-Making Local

At local banks and credit unions, loan approvals and other key decisions are made locally by people who live in the community, have face-to-face relationships with their customers, and understand local needs. Because of this personal knowledge, local financial institutions are often able to approve small business and other loans that big banks would reject. In the case of credit unions, control ultimately rests with the customers, who are also member- owners.

4. Back Institutions that Share a Commitment to Your Community

The fortunes of local banks and credit unions are intimately tied to the fortunes of their local communities. The more the community prospers, the more the local bank benefits. This is why many local banks and credit unions are involved in their communities. Big banks, in contrast, are not tethered to the places where they operate. Indeed, they often use a community’s deposits to make investments in other regions or on Wall Street.

5. Support Productive Investment, Not Gambling

The primary activity of almost all small banks and credit unions is to turn deposits into loans and other productive investments. Meanwhile, big banks devote a sizeable share of their resources to speculative trading and other Wall Street bets that may generate big profits for the bank, but provide little economic or social value for the rest of us and can put the entire financial system at risk if they go bad.

Excerpt from New Rules Project

Living Economies

"Maximizing relationships, not maximizing profits, Broad-based ownership and democracy, not concentrated wealth and power, Sharing, not hoarding, Life serving, not self-serving, Partnership, not domination, Cooperation based, not competition based, Win-win exchange, not win-loose exploitation, Creativity, not conformity, A living return, not the highest return, A living wage, not the minimum wage, A fair price, not the lowest price, “Being more, not having more”, Interconnectedness, not separation, Inclusion, not exclusiveness, Community and collective joy, not isolation and unhapppiness, Cultural diversity, not monoculture, Bio-diversity, not mono-crops, Family farms, not factory farms, Slow food, not fast food, a Love of life, not love of money.”

Business Alliance for Local Living Economies