Q: What is a public bank?

in banking •  6 years ago  (edited)

Anyone?

Will be edited within 12 hours for to answer and an award to the most detailed response and a token for every comment.

-edit-
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  ·  6 years ago (edited)

The comment got long and detailed so I also turned it into a post. You can check it here: https://steemit.com/steemit/@hashcash/what-are-public-banks

(I wrote this post like an assignment because I wanted to keep the language clinical before laying the splashdown at the end 😊)

There are two ways of answering this question. The first way is the way of truth and the second way is the way of ‘talk’. Truth is blindingly pure, and it is so sharp that it might cut us without us even ever noticing until we are bleeding. So, I will only ‘talk’ and leave the truth for the last paragraph.

The term ‘Public banks’ contains two words, ‘Public’ and ‘Bank’:

In the global financial structure, a bank can be thought of as a ‘node’ where ‘money’ can safely exchange hands. This ‘exchange’ can mean temporary storage, lending-borrowing, foreign currency reserves, bullion reserves, physically limited storage for some precious assets and of course backbone for insurance services (also, minting and printing fiat in some cases).

Now these services have been historically provided both privately and by the State. Thus, when we talk about a public bank we know that it’s origin or backing lies with the State. Public banks can be directly or indirectly owned by the state. Direct ownership means that a representative authority of citizens (like a government) runs and operates the bank. While an indirect ownership could mean a partial ownership by the government, where it holds the majority stake.

A public bank differs from a private bank in several manners. The first one being that a public bank works to provide financial service to the people of the State directly and/or indirectly (depending on its charter) while a private bank works to deliver maximum profits (within the boundary of the law of course) to its shareholders.

It is important to understand that in most cases public and private banks have no real difference in their definition except for their ownership. Also understand that public banks differ vastly from Central and Federal banks.

The idea of the public bank is that it provides its services in the favor of the people. The services would include the same kind as mentioned above – loans, currency exchange, digital money transaction services, etc. The banking services provided by a public bank are meant to serve the people, while retaining enough financial value within it that it keeps functioning. Even the profits generated by it are indirectly/directly returned to the people via the state.

Now the time for truth:

Banks whether public or private are financial criminals. They exist to control the flow of money by providing a false sense of security to the people who use it. They control your money while allowing you to think that you control it.

At this point of time in history they use fear to make you think that your money is only safe with them. They fund global events that make you think so. We all know what to call those who use terror to get their way…………

Wow nice @hashcash. About to read this all and comment over on your post! Nice!

Thanks man :-)

I can tell you what is a public bank in Brazil: it is a bank almost equal to a commercial bank. The differences are: the directors are chosen by the government, they have to spend a little more money in social programs, they have absolute guarantee from the government that if something bad happens the clients will be protected by the government and, of course, their directories are used by government as a guarantee of fidelity from the politics to the government.

I am interested about the final thing you said. Friend, what did you mean? "guarantee of fidelity"

@ronaldoavelino do you know people with first-hand experience with Caixa?
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caixa_Econ%C3%B4mica_Federal_

That means that the government distributes directories/employment in the Bank to some Political Parties so that the Parties vote with the Government in Congress or Senate. There is a saying: It is giving that you receive. Unfortunately that is Brazilian politics...
About Caixa, I was a client a few years ago, but I don't know anybody that reached or had access to the high levels of power.

Caixa Econômica Federal
Caixa Econômica Federal (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈkajʃɐ ekoˈnõmikɐ fedeˈɾaw], Federal Savings Bank), also referred to as Caixa or CEF, is a Brazilian bank headquartered in the nation's capital, Brasília. It is the largest 100% government-owned financial institution in Latin America. It is the fourth largest bank in Brazil by assets and one of the largest in Latin America.

  ·  6 years ago (edited)

Public banks are state-owned banks that own all of their capital and supervise their activities and works, such as central banks, national commercial banks, specialized banks such as the real estate, agricultural or industrial bank.

  ·  6 years ago (edited)

A public bank is a banking company owned by the state or public actors. It differs from a commercial bank by its type of shareholding, but also often by certain missions entrusted to it by the public authorities.

Public bank are banks that offers day-to day activities offering a range of accounts, credit cards, loans, deposit, empowerment and others

Public banks are public financial institutions that have the objective or the fundamental mandate to help achieve public policy objectives to support the economic development of a country or region.

A public bank is a bank that is controlled by and principally funded by a government body rather than by private investors. In essence, it is an extension of the governing body that created it — state, county, or city government. The governing body for the bank deposits all its revenue, taxes, fees, and other earnings, in the bank. In addition, it can borrow from their bank. The officers of the bank report to a board or commission defined by the charter of the bank so as to ensure freedom from conflicts of interest, commitment to follow sound banking principles, and service to the public interest. Further, a public bank does not pay exorbitant salaries and bonuses, and they have no advertising, no branches, no tellers, or ATMs, and they do not pay commissions or fees, making it very sound financially. .

Public banking is common around the world, particularly in developing and newly-developed countries. Globally, about 20 percent of banks are publicly owned. The countries with public banks mostly survived the Great Recession of 2008.

Public banking has also played an important role in America’s past. The U.S. Post Office ran the Postal Savings System from 1911 to 1967. This brought affordable banking services within reach of all Americans. There is currently a movement to reinstate a Post Office Bank — to allow the growing number of unbanked Americans access to banking services.

Nice. I think in practice most public banks are managed by a formal State. But this does not have to be the case. I can imagine organizing a public bank simply among members of a community.

@kwadjobonsu what is your bts address?