[HCoop-Discuss] Tax refund and banking relationships

[Nathan Kennedy]

> 2. We have been banking with Wells Fargo, and it has worked pretty nicely
> for us so far and I am pretty happy with them.  However, they are a west
> coast operation, and now that both Adam and I are in NYC I think we should
> consider opening an account with the National Cooperative Bank.
> (http://www.ncb.coop) I wasn't aware of them when we originally were
> selecting financial institutions, but unlike other credit unions that only
> allow individual and sole proprietor members, it is a Congressionally
> chartered credit union targetting cooperatives, so we could join it.  Its
> main office is also in Manhattan which would be convenient for Adam if he
> ever needed to visit--which is not currently an option for Wells Fargo.

I need to correct myself and clarify this.  Their main office is in Ohio
but they have an office on Park Avenue in New York and nine offices total.

NCB is sort of sui generis, not really like other credit unions that are
federally chartered or chartered by states.  It was previously run by the
government but was privatized and is owned largely by members.  It used to
concentrate entirely on serving cooperatives and that is still probably
its largest sector, but now it also offers consumer banking and banking
for other nonprofits and community organizations.

-ntk