By Frank J. Diekmann
There is a movie currently streaming on Netflix that will have even newbie credit unionists shouting at their respective screens with exasperated statements like, “Hello! That’s what we do!,” and “Hey, that isn’t new,” and, “We’re right here already!”
The movie is “The Bank of Dave,” and while it takes some creative license with events, it is, as they say, “Based on a True Story”--which isn’t to be confused with “Inspired by Real Events,” which is code for “None of This Actually Happened.”
In this case, it’s the story of Dave Fishwick, a quite successful businessman in the town of Burnley in the U.K. who at various times made loans to customers and townspeople—most of them good folks who were in a pinch--because they weren’t able to get a loan from one of the country’s stately old banks. Sound familiar?
Fishwick finally decides the answer is a not-for-profit bank that exists to help the little guy and the ordinary people because he believes in being socially responsible. Still not sound familiar? You may be reading the wrong publication.
Forget the ‘Experts’
Against long odds Fishwick sets out to get a bank charter (at the time the U.K. had not approved a new bank charter in 150 years, and London’s stodgy money center bankers laughed at the idea of some start-up out in the hinterlands) for what he simply calls The Bank of Dave. You can be sure that had he brought in branding “experts” every one of them would have said the name was the first thing that needed to go, likely in favor of one of those banal, generic, sounds-like-a-cold-medicine “brands” that mean nothing at all.
So, in the first lesson for credit unions, the powerful simplicity of The Bank of Dave turns out to be the most effective brand anyone could have imagined.
As he fights to get the bank opened, Fishwick says things like, “Every single penny of profit goes straight to local charities” and “We’re sending a message today. Enough of your greed. There’s a better way.”
More Reasons to Shout
If that doesn’t have you talking back to your screen you won’t be able to resist doing so at various points in the story when the idea of a locally-owned institution that exists for the benefit of its borrowers/depositors is repeatedly presented as if the concept is something new, while the response is a surprise holy epiphany for everyone who hears about it.
Don’t dismiss the latter as some sort of scenario unique to England, like warm beer and afternoon tea and which could never occur on this side of the pond. I have zero doubt most Americans who have streamed The Bank of Dave loved this idea of the little guy sticking it to the greedy bankers and found themselves wondering why there isn’t something similar in the United States.
And I’ll wager a fair number of those folks are credit union members.
Remember, too, that while they have a lower profile, credit unions do exist in the U.K., and the country is also the homeland of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, an early consumer cooperative that gave us the basis for what are now known as the Cooperative Principles.
A Familiar Finding
Dave Fishwick makes another point during the movie as he tries to explain why the idea of such a bank would work, noting that every pence he has loaned out has been repaid. This is a point frequently made by NCUA Chairman Todd Harper about loans at minority depository institutions (MDIs), which in credit unions have a lower delinquency rate than non-MDIs.
I won’t be a spoiler here for those who haven’t seen the movie, other than to say the bank (which technically is not a bank and doesn’t officially operate as The Bank of Dave) remains open in Burnley and the profits continue to go to charity.
“It’s about the quality of life for a whole community,” Fishwick says in explaining why such a financial institution is needed.
What You Should be Shouting
Indeed it is. So, if you haven’t already, watch the movie and instead of shouting at your screen, shout out that message to everyone who needs to hear it, including your members and employees. And then keep shouting.
Frank J. Diekmann Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of several new book, including the brand new “The Last Lyric,” a humorous satire about a murder investigation at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in which every line of dialogue is either a classic pop/rock song title or lyric. Available on Amazon, Apple iBook, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Mr. Diekmann is also author of a non-fiction compilation of the very best & worst he has seen and heard in covering more than 500 CU meetings and conferences, “501 Name Tags: How Everything You Need to Know About Business Can Be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Lulu, and Smashwords.