About

Our Goal

Public Bank East Bay will be a pioneering, community-led financial institution that invests in the long-term well-being of East Bay communities.

We will be a wholesale bank that lends public dollars locally, to meet community-wide needs identified by and for the people who live here. To keep lending costs on these projects low, we will not offer accounts to individuals and will work directly with local governments, nonprofits, unions, community groups, and other local financial institutions.

At a time when federal instability and private financial interests undermine local economies, PBEB offers a powerful alternative to big banks.

Our Approach

Community-owned. Like public schools, parks, and fire departments.

Community-driven. Funding community-wide projects like affordable housing, clean energy infrastructure, and small business development. 

Transparent. The public bank is accountable to the residents of the East Bay, who have a right to fully transparent explanations of the bank’s actions and choices.

Equitable. We are committed to addressing the contemporary and historical burdens carried by disenfranchised communities, including disenfranchised communities of color.

Sustainable. Recirculates local public funds and profits back into the local economy to fund even more loans, rather than funds being siphoned away by big banks to benefit toxic investments and billionaires. 

Wholesale not retail. We will keep overhead and our interest rates remarkably low because we are not offering retail services like accounts to individuals, ATMs or local branches. Instead we focus on banking directly with cities, counties, and other local financial institutions to advance large scale community projects.

Depositors. We actively look for depositors from nonprofits, local governments, foundations, unions, pensions, donor advised funds, and program related investments.