Working with CDFIs

I just had a call with Faisel Rhaman from http://www.fairfinance.org.uk/ - thanks to @patconaty for pointing me his way - very useful... quick summary:

FairFinance is multi product
They do personal and business money advice and loans for working capital needs - to finance future growth and cash flows.
Their portfolio includes - a couple of hundred of business
and about 20,000 individuals

He gets the UKMCN plan - but doesn't think they can help because they have so few businesses which are dotted all over the UK

I tested whether he thought MC is/could/would be competitive to their services
He said, only if we were incredibly successful...i.e. 90% of UK businesses were part of the network...

He suggested the way to promote UKMCN to CDFIs would be
to focus on "enterprise finance lenders" and pitch it as "added value services - to help businesses they back build stronger community - So their members gain value from being connected"

He said there aren't many CDFIs in London, so suggested we talk to the trade body for CDFIs (Responsible Finance - CEO Jennifer Tankard) to find out which CDFIs they suggest we speak to - and said I could tell her he gave me the number... so I called her and have a tentative appointment to speak to her on Monday.

TBC
Oli

The latest message from the Public Banking Institute (PBI) has an item, International News: "The UK is building a network of regional community cooperative banks."

It has a link to their website: http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/uk_is_building_a_network_of_regional_community_cooperative_banks?utm_campaign=pbi_news190117&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pbi ,

which links to the original article at:
https://thenextsystem.org/learn/stories/putting-banking-back-hands-people-role-regional-cooperative-banks-community-wealth

I’m sure that some of you must be aware of this and must know Jules Peck.

What are the prospects for collaboration?

From Pat (via email after video conversation Fri 15th Feb):
Hi all.....

A great first dialogue between us all today. This beginning conversation is something most encouraging to say the least.

I attach two Community Banking Partnership documents. The first is our summary report which shows you at the end how many CDFIs and credit unions were involved just before the 2008 crash. Most are still around but not pursuing this level of engagement with each other but nonetheless operating as CDFIs and credit unions. Had we a progressive government since 2010 nationally, this model would have had a helpful public policy environment.

CBP was revived in about 2013 in Bristol and I was involved in helping Responsible Finance reactivate with Lib Dem support. It was called Bristol Boost and involved the Bristol Credit Union, Bristol Pound, three CDFIs in the South West, Debt advice agencies in Bristol and other social enterprises in Bristol. But funding was curtailed post 2015. Unfortunate once again as it was beginning to build collaboration.

The second report is our legal guidance one that we commissioned from our US partner the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. The case studies here in the USA are operating this way and have been expanding. Sadly we did not get the level of buy in from public policy framers that the US CDFIs and Community Development Credit Unions have had. It is worth mentioning that Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca, New York which covers a good size rural region as well as Ithaca has a partnership agreement with Ithaca Hours. Not sure how this is going. But an interesting precedent.

Why the Welsh context could be more conducive is because the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, is fully supporting our work on the Peoples Bank for Wales. As Graham said, we have shifted from a public bank model to a CSBA regional co-op bank model for Wales because of politics here in Wales (another story for another day) and because the CSBA has a good chance of securing licenses for the first group of regional co-op banks in Greater London, Bristol, the South West and here in Wales.

I would also add that Mark Drakeford is a wise politician who is incredibly well versed in co-op history and knows about things like Social Credit and radical forms of monetary reform. As he is a life long co-operator, this to us augurs well. But more for another day.
Pat