Oakland will spend $75,000 on a study to examine the feasibility of establishing a public bank in that city. The impact on the cannabis industry would be huge, because most corporate banks do not conduct business with the cannabis trade even where their operations are legal, they pay taxes and employees are hired. Without bank issued credit cards, business transactions must be conducted in cash. Even filing taxes with the IRS is problematic.

Nearly all large corporate banks are involved in unethical practices of one kind or another whether it be prisons, fossil fuel projects, or weapons manufacturing. A public bank would also allow people of conscience to bank without supporting unconscionable investments.

On October 23rd protesters in Palo Alto demanded that banks stop financing human rights abuses, repression of indigenous rights, and desecration of the earth. There was much discussion in the crowd about closing accounts from the Big Banks. A representative from the advocacy group Friends of the Public Bank of Oakland addressed the crowd about this new kind of banking. She said Oakland residents working on the project want to see a public bank flourish that helps the community and provides an example for other jurisdictions wishing to rid themselves of their dependence on Wall Street banks.

A Public Bank of Oakland Could Provide Financial Services to Cannabis Industry | Protesters Demand Banks Stop Financing Desecration of the Earth | FriendsofPublicBankofOakland.org