California Ponders Public Banking: Can't Be Worse Than Big Banks, Right?

<p>I'm back after a brief hiatus dealing with a harasser (No, not a BofA Employee). Thank You for your patience and support with that bizarre issue last week.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Today's pod is a single topic spawned from an article by <a href="https://twitter.com/margotroosevelt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Margot Roosevelt of the L.A. Times</a></p> <p><br></p> <p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-04-06/bankcal-california-banking-bill-offer-free-services-covid-19">Article Here</a></p> <p><br></p> <p>A bill in California is going to be introduced into their state assembly in the coming weeks which will be able to offer basic financial services like checking, savings, debit cards and bill pay access at no-cost to people in California, targeting mainly low-income folks, or those who are underbanked or unbanked. It will be under the name BankCal is approved.</p> <p>&nbsp;I discuss several topics in the podcast (It runs a little long, sorry)</p> <ul> <li>How I think it can be great, but requires employers, landlords, and other companies to accept and buy into the new format for customers of this new entity</li> <li>How infrastructure needs to be there (customer service, atm network affiliation, marketing and advertising)</li> <li>The narrative that big banks "already have low-cost options for customers" such as<a href="https://www.bankofamerica.com/salesservices/deposits/resources/safebalance-clarity-statement/"> Safebalance Advantage at BofA (Which I call the "Safe to say your balance is going to be chipped away to our Advantage Account)</a>, <a href="https://www.wellsfargo.com/checking/clear-access-banking/">Clear Access Checking or Opportunity Checking at Wells (I call it the "Opportunity to Screw You Account")</a> and <a href="https://personal.chase.com/personal/checking">Chase Secure Checking (Which I call the "Chase Away Insecure Checking")</a> and how it's a total lie.</li> <li>I speak about the fact that those accounts charge a flat fee, while richer folks have