YES. I agree wholeheartedly with you. This is something that I've wanted to do for years -- but unfortunately has been way too far out of the reach of my resources. For now.
Most of the comments here seem to miss the point: banks act as liaisons between people and money, and most banks -- even local ones -- aren't doing a good enough job at that, so there is a notable opportunity here.
For example, lending practices: there are many individuals with poor credit or financial liquidity issues that would still be reliable loan customers if the relationship was handled carefully.
And, other people here are missing the point about fees: these are not small sums of money which primarily target the poor. They are a poor tax. At what point did that become socially acceptable?
Then there's the problem of interest-bearing accounts. Financially savvy individuals don't bother investing in banks, because the yields are too low -- which in turn affects the bank's ability to lend.
Most of the comments here seem to miss the point: banks act as liaisons between people and money, and most banks -- even local ones -- aren't doing a good enough job at that, so there is a notable opportunity here.
For example, lending practices: there are many individuals with poor credit or financial liquidity issues that would still be reliable loan customers if the relationship was handled carefully.
And, other people here are missing the point about fees: these are not small sums of money which primarily target the poor. They are a poor tax. At what point did that become socially acceptable?
Then there's the problem of interest-bearing accounts. Financially savvy individuals don't bother investing in banks, because the yields are too low -- which in turn affects the bank's ability to lend.
So, yes. I'd love to see this.