[Noisebridge-discuss] community banks?

[Nick P]

SF Fire does have a catch -- their deposits are only privately
insured. Since the insurance risk pool is far smaller compared to
FDIC/NCUA, and since they lack government backing, if one member
institution fails, there is a much greater risk of a panicked run
powerful enough to bring down all other member institutions, even
those which may have been solvent before the run began.

To put it a bit plainly, SF Fire's management decided a few years ago
that saving a bit on deposit insurance fees was worth the tradeoff of
more risk for their members' deposits. So if you do decide to go with
them, I don't recommend leaving a significant amount of money in your
account. See also: the failure of RISDIC back in 1991, which closed 45
institutions and froze 300,000 accounts, and the similar failures in
Ohio and Maryland in 1985:
http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neer/neer1993/neer393a.pdf

I use USAA checking myself; their banking is open to all. They, Schwab
Bank, and Ally Bank all offer ATM refunds, but if you frequently need
to see a banker in person then these are probably not too practical,
since they mostly do things by internet/phone/mail, but with things
like free postage-paid deposit envelopes, they're a good option for
most people.

Mechanics Bank also offers ATM refunds with their Relationship
Checking account, though they're mostly East Bay, with the exception
of a branch in the financial district.