Bank of Dave: The possibilities are Endless
Lessons from Watching Bank of Dave: How Ordinary Folks Might Unlock Financial Success
I recently watched the Bank of Dave Films, and I say “pleasure” because both movies genuinely inspired me. They reminded me that we don’t have to accept the way things are and that we can choose to do things differently, and that we can explore solutions to a society that is failing the ordinary people.
We live in a world where finance capital dominates everything. Banks and financial institutions shuffle money around the globe, inventing ever more complicated ways to gamble on the rise and fall of stocks, shares, and derivatives. None of this creates anything real or useful for everyday people. Instead, it keeps wealth concentrated at the top while feeding the dream that maybe, just maybe, ordinary people can “crack the code” and get rich too.
What I loved about Bank of Dave was that it flipped that story on its head. It gave us a glimpse of what’s possible when we dare to challenge the banking system. It showed that we don’t have to be at the mercy of big banks controlling our mortgages, our small businesses, our interest rates, in other words, our lives. Not only that, but it was a reminder that alternatives could exist, and that sometimes all it takes is the courage to imagine and act differently and organise to create something new.
The movie tells the story of how the self-made millionaire Dave Fishwick fought to set up a community bank to help his local community in Burnley, England. The Bank of Dave is actually called Burnley Savings and Loans and runs as an independent lending company with customers able to deposit a limited amount. Although it is not a fully formed bank, the Burnley Savings and Loans Bank has done incredible work for the community, lending over 30 million pounds to local businesses and families after the crash of 2008. It started after Dave began helping out people by lending them money out of his own pocket because the banks started to decline loans. “Dave’s Bank” runs on a peer-to-peer crowdfunding model, where people’s savings are pooled and lent directly to borrowers, who are then responsible for repaying the loans. This is the main point of difference, the profits of the bank go back into the community. Dave is also still fighting for his 'bank' to become a UK regulated bank and for his idea of a community bank to spread across the country.
The banks here in Australia are closing down offices and forcing people to only bank online and through the internet. For the big banks it means making more money by cutting hundreds of jobs, and all the while they are making record profits without having to share in the “good times” with the people who are creating those record profits. For us, it means lack of service and higher banking fees because we won’t have a choice.
What can we do? Any real change has to come from us. The demands we place on our governments (Liberal or Labor), whether it’s about banking, support for Palestine, peace, Aboriginal rights, housing, and welfare, falls on deaf ears. At best, we get polite platitudes about supporting our right to protest, but rarely do we see any genuine, lasting change. Let’s start to think about how we can do things differently for ourselves.
The story of Dave’s Bank is that of possibility. The possibility that ordinary people can form a bank, run it, share the profits with the community, and challenge the dominance of the stinking rich and the banking elite, and make genuine lasting change.
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