The Weirdest Bank You’ve Never Heard Of

Next City
Thursday, October 24, 2019

Chuck Snyder came to National Cooperative Bank in 1983 to serve as its chief financial officer. Today, it's a $2.6 billion dollar bank, holding $2.2 billion in deposits, and a portfolio of $2 billion in loans exclusively to housing co-ops, consumer co-ops, producer co-ops and other cooperatively-owned entities across the country. It's a bank, not a credit union, because its members are exclusively co-ops themselves, not individuals. It's survived three recessions, two major financial crises, and dramatic industry consolidation — in 1983, there were more than 14,000 commercial banks in the U.S.; today there are fewer than 5,000. And it's not just a name — the bank itself is also a cooperative, owned and controlled by its customers. It's one of a few banks that doesn't have the traditional ownership structure of wealthy investors at the top, reaping the lion's share of profits at the expense of borrowers and depositors.