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.

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 deposits from nonprofits, local governments, foundations, unions, pensions, donor-advised funds, and other aligned organizations.

Our Values

The Friends of Public Bank East Bay base our decisions on five core values:

Equity: We are committed to creating a public bank which acknowledges and attempts restitution of the historical burdens carried by disenfranchised communities, including communities of color and many other marginalized groups.

Social Responsibility: Decisions regarding who gets loans, what projects get invested in, and who benefits should all take into account investing our money into the wealth and health of local communities and the environment..

Accountability: The 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.

Democracy: The Bank will be governed using democratic processes which consciously and intentionally adhere to the values/principles listed above.

Fiscal Responsibility: As a steward of public money, collected by depositing agencies from individuals and businesses in the East Bay, the Bank is committed not only to compliance with the directives and policies of state and federal regulators; it is equally committed to active and constant attention to managing risk and making fiscally responsible decisions so as to maintain PBEB in a safe and sound condition.