Came across this in the paper the other day and was impressed. This guy Peter Liu has started up a local bank in San Francisco called New Resource. The bank has a “green focus,” which is so sexy right now, in that it targets and invests in green sustainable businesses.
However, the bank has been growing successfully on its own through its normal every day banking functions (savings and checking accounts, etc.), so its found a way to be both profitable and further an environmental social cause. To top it all off, Liu sounds like a solid guy who still takes the time answer personal emails the bank receives from customers, instead of just handing them off to some customer service department. He says:
“You have to know who your community is. These days, banks have become very much alike — impersonal. [Part of New Resource’s mission] is getting banking back to its origins — a community of people that together can create resources that will empower members of their community to do great things.”
When’s the last time you heard a bank say that?
The Cheddar Box 