The Bridge #105

in which we playfully reinvent the banks

Hello

& Welcome ! The Bridge is a newsletter connecting the professional and the personal creatively across cultures and a diversity of topics, until we are not only full of ideas but also ready to take action. Thanks for joining in the conversation.

Recently I saw a film, a semi-fictionalized true-ish story about a community bank (designed after the old fashioned savings and loan banks, where loans are assessed on the full person and not on mere statistics) that gives all of its profits to charity in Burnley, a small town near Manchester UK. The film is called The Bank of Dave (after the founder Dave Fishwick who had the idea for the bank after making several successful loans to customers of his minibus business). One of the fictionalized elements in the film is when there’s a Def Leppard concert fundraiser. All the same, the inspirational words Dave Fishwick shares in the film with the packed stadium audience resonate true. After explaining in a rather cheeky way how the community bank was set up in protest of big bankers’ greed, he concludes:

Because helping each other, where we can, how we can, that's what community's all about.

So thank you, thank you everybody!

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Something to Watch

Bank of Dave (Netflix)

Even if it’s probably not true that all big bankers are primarily motivated by greed, it is true that they are easy to hate. After the financial crisis of 2008 and the bank bailouts that followed, it appeared to just about everyone that the big banks had bought the government and could take from taxpayers what they wanted if they really “needed” it. That was a major mistake, in terms of public reputation, but for most people it wasn’t immediately evident what to do about the situation.

Dave Fishwick decided to create his savings and loan bank. In reality, it’s not yet officially registered as a bank, and therefore is limited in scope as to amounts of money and various other functions. (That said, the real Burnley Savings & Loans has been profitable for over 13 years and loaned out over 30 million pounds to thousands of UK residents, with all profits donated to local charity. An impressive feat!) In the film Bank of Dave, they seek to overcome the regulatory barriers and become official, in order to send a message that big banks are not meeting the essential needs of many people. Local community banks are indisputably capable of a bit more humanity in how they run their business.

Something to Consider

An impact startup called Good With addresses a similar problem, and the multi-pronged approach they have taken to find a solution inspired me to invest.

Good With founded by Gabriela Isas and Ellie Kallis has two sides to their efforts. One side is meeting the needs of “credit invisibles” (people who don’t have yet a credit history). With an app and methodology that addresses the emotions we can feel in relation to money alongside improved financial literacy, Good With helps encourage calm decision making for borrowers. On the other side, Good With is improving lenders' credit decisioning for customers. Until now, financial services firms lacked sophisticated enough tools to properly assess “thin credit” or “no credit” customers, but moving forward they will be better equipped to measure at scale who to loan to and who not to, which can positively impact millions of people.

It’s wonderful to see how many financial firms’ innovation teams are partnering with them on this. Women founders are awesome.

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Something Fun

“Money” by Pink Floyd is a song they created with irony, and it epitomizes the irony of their success. They made a song different from their usual fare, something shorter and more pop, and added lyrics that riff on something they weren’t originally seeking (as a band). They had been known for longer instrumental songs and lyrics that address problems of alienation and a search for meaning. Here they created a $ong about Cha-Ching, and it launched them to such stardom that as individuals they were hard-pressed to figure out what they were going to be about, after that. At concerts they felt disconnected from their fans. They were articulating the modern-day pressures of capitalism. Could people hear the deeper message of their songs?

Perhaps more importantly, half a century later, hearing the silly sarcasm and seeing the limits of what money can do, are we ready to evolve?

Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash

Something to Practice

Like any tool, money can be used for all kinds of purposes. It can create experiences, possibilities, connection, laughter. Let’s not let it use us, and let’s not give it too much attention. If we project onto it more meaning than it deserves, we can become confused, so let us remember: Money is a tool.

And if we were to use the tools at our disposal to create a safer, more caring, more healthy and more calm world, what would we need banks for?

JPC 😎