[Noisebridge-discuss] community banks?

[Ryan Rawson]

charles schwab is great - smartphone checking deposits and refund of
ATM fees.  no cash services, but oh well.

On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Nick P <nickbp at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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.
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