interesting idea... i'm in.

It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure banking is the right industry to go after. Deposits at traditional banks are insured to a certain amount and unless you had that insurance coverage, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find depositors. I like the common ownership idea though.

This is exactly what a "credit union" is. It could work. Credit unions certainly have. However, it's not exactly a "product" and would probably be outside CH's scope to manage...

Yes, its a service, not a product. But Prezzle is a service, a voucher delivery enhancement.

Its just a more advanced version of paypal thats all.

ya this is a credit union... in Canada they can not grow beyond their provincial boarders... don't know about the states.

I'd be happy to join. It could be like a non profit bank.
Tommy

Very difficult to execute. The banking industry is excessively regulated (and for good reason), their ability to turn a profit on deposited dollars to pay out rates is complicated (and dependant on exceedingly expensive hardware, software, constant analysis, and highly diversified revenue generating opportunities), and most people are still feel like they need a storefront.

PayPal is a great model to build off of, but they had the advantage of being the first widely adopted payment process for the online auction world. It was a revenue generator in and of itself, and it required that others create PayPal accounts as well. Gaining market share without being able to fill a PayPal llike need and/or being moderately viral will make it tough to gain the volume of dollars necessary to run a bank.

It's a good idea, but seems like a very tough nut to crack.

Btw, it's kind of like an Internet version of Credit Unions (which are technically owned by their members and pass on the benefits to their members). Maybe the angle could be a sort of meta-credit union that leverages the aggregate power while still providing real local benefit. That might bypass the legal issues, provide a good resource base, and make it easier for people to benefit from their credit union when they're on the road. That would be an easier nut to crack.

I like this idea, along with peer to peer lending groups like Prosper! ANYTHING to get some financial strength baack onto the hands of regular people again.

Is it a bank? Then it's a credit union.

If it's like PayPal, then it's a payment processor.

Do you want a company that owns a payment processor (PayPal competitor) to be owned using the same structure as a credit union.

The idea description seems to be focused on accepting deposits rather than processing payments.

To be a deposit-accepting institution does involve a lot of regulation.

An internet credit union is not a bad idea in and of itself. However I wonder if this is a suitable project for here. Somehow I can't see people in CH dying to start up their own financial institution.

So I like the general concept but I don't think it's something that is likely to be successfully executed here.

To make this into a product, could this become a hosted credit union service that for a monthly fee delivers all the back end services for a credit union? The Front end for internet baning would probably need to be another project entirely.

I think its a cool idea, but I anticipate a number of legal hurdles. I would like to see it focus on helping put together capital for people like those on this sight rather than auto and home improvement loans. I have a friend whose parents came to the US from Korea. He said that family members in Korea saved up a lot of money to help his parents set up a liquor store when they came to the US. They then took the profits from the liquor store and helped his uncle set up a deli and so on until all of his aunts and uncles had migrated here and set up sucessful businesses. A similar coop would be great to have for entrepreneurs.

I still keep going back to security laws... Nice idea but way way to many laws.

There are many cooperative banks.
If you want to do this (and I agree it's not easy), you have to start from one country and then move on to the next one.
Success,
Tommy

I love it!

Yeah, the laws are a pain. Maybe get some seed money and hire a lawyer to break things down...

There is no such thing as non profit bank. But a coop is a solid IDEA...
i give you my 3rd 5 star votes in 2 weeks i been here !

Keep us posted and please have a heart when my mortgage is due lolz.

Interesting concept. I think this kind of thing happens quite a bit in developing countries already. You are more or less just buying stock in the bank instead of putting money in an account.

You would have to implement max limits on an individual's investment to keep someone from taking over a controlling stake.

Good idea, but I think this would take a huge amount of time and initial capital to start. Not to mention all the red tape to cut through to start. Heavily monitored and controlled.