> quasi monopoly

lol what? What amazingly convoluted definition of "monopoly" do you get to describe the banks?

os2warpman 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Anything they don't like or anything governed by any regulation whatsoever is, to some people, a "monopoly".

Practically any person anywhere in the US can start a bank, provided they possess the capital needed and the ability to fill out forms, although it is somewhat easier to start a credit union.

There's even an online form to start the process of founding a credit union: https://ncua.gov/support-services/credit-union-resources-exp...

It's so easy that small hospitals and large churches and school district teachers' unions have done it.

I deposit my paycheck in a tiny credit union that is so small that we had a member's meeting one year where practically every single member showed up and fit inside a large ballroom. And we have an app, digital wallets, everything.

The only thing stopping people from starting banks is the fact that you need a shit-ton of cash on hand.

It's the same with ISPs. For over 30 years, in the US, any person any where has been able to get a franchise agreement with the same exact terms as incumbents. With no exceptions. There is not a linear millimeter of public right-of-way that you can't get permission to install fiber in. Downtown Manhattan, suburban Houston, middle-of-nowhere barren Alaska, doesn't matter. You can run NG-PON2 to every house in the country and have your net-neutral capless fantasyland. You just need a shit-ton of cash and you need to demonstrate to the jurisdictions that you won't dig a bunch of trenches and abandon the effort and leave the trenches open when you run out of money. But that's still a "monopoly" to many people.

Give me $50 million and I'll start filling out the forms to start a bank the day after the cash is in my hands.

I'd advise you that there are better ways of spending that money and that a small credit union would probably fit your needs better, but I'd do it.

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nullc 2 days ago | parent [-]

> Give me $50 million

Your view on the viability of it is grossly underestimating the hurdles you face, but lets run with it for the purpose of this discussion.

Our comparison point is a cake decorating business which refused to create custom cake decorations for a gay couple and a state law that would have forced them to do so was found unlawful.

To this, this HN replies is evidence that banks should be able to discriminate capriciously, and that anyone with a mere 50 million dollars can start up their own if they don't like being cut off by the incumbents (or don't like that their preferred choice was intentionally destroyed like SVB).

	▲	os2warpman 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		>To this, this HN replies is evidence that banks should be able to discriminate capriciously, No. Stop. Fuck off. Get fucked. I didn't say, mean, imply, or insinuate that. Someone said/meant/implied that banks were a monopoly, probably because they're a piece of shit libertarian or they heard the phrase "ReGuLaToRy CaPtUrE" on a shitty podcast somewhere, and that it is impossible to start one. And I replied that it isn't, well, it is, but no more than any other capital-intensive project. And credit unions are easier than banks. Goooooooooooooooooo fuckyerself.

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nullc 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Go ahead and open one, lemme know how that goes.

	▲	lesuorac 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		lol, go ahead and open a distillery. It seems like there are 4471 banks regulated by the FDIC [1]. That's not the definition of a monopoly just a regulated industry. [1]: https://banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/financialreportin...