Community banking: How it works
With over 2,000 bank branches closing down in recent years, community banking is stepping in to fill the gap in rural, regional and even city suburban areas. Bendigo Bank's Community Banking model is the most popular which allows local publicly-owned companies to own the rights to operate community branches which tie in to the Bendigo network.
About $500,000 is required to establish a branch, with Bendigo supplying support and banking infrastructure and the community and the bank sharing revenue. Bendigo's Community Bank network had 100 branches and over 100,000 customers by mid-2003.
For a local community to be considered for Community Bank franchise, the following steps must be taken:
- form a steering committee;
- raise awareness and begin taking pledges for start-up capital;
- continue raising pledges to reach the target of up to $500,000;
- hold a public meeting at which Bendigo Bank outlines procedures;
- get a consultant to do a feasibility study;
- get support from residents;
- feed results into the Community Bank model to produce a business plan;
- hold a community vote on whether to proceed;
- if affirmative, release prospectus to invite share subscriptions;
- once capital is raised, Bendigo fits out the premises;
- open your local branch.
For more information, click here.
by Infochoice
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