Better Than Under the Mattress

If you haven't caught on yet, I'm a person with strict morals when it comes to where I put my money. A few months ago I switched my savings account over from a credit union that was having some problems to Washington Mutual. At WaMu I was earning interest on my nest egg at a stellar rate and got a monthly statement in the mail as a constant reminder to let me know how nicely that egg was incubating. Now, I have yet to discover what exactly WaMu does with money markets to provide their customers which such solid interest rates to earn on, but my guess is that it's the business-as-usual types of places and the subprime home loans that have become so scandalous. That being said, I figured it was time to shop around.

My fiscally conservative coworker who used to keep his money in jars at home tipped me off to one of the coolest banks that I now know of - Community Bank of the Bay. CBB has two great programs from which you can choose to have your money invested in. One is their Oakland 1st Fund which puts your money into Oakland-based ventures; the other, which I went with, is their Bay Area Green Fund which invests in local green ventures. Sure, the interest I'm earning is half that of what WaMu offers, but I consider their to be more pay back than just the numbers that fall after the dollar sign in my personal account. It's one of the ways that I can contribute to my community to make it a better place.

CBB is the real deal all around. The new accounts guy, Larry, that assisted me is born and raised in Oakland and mentioned to me as I was signing the forms that even those were printed on recycled paper. What a world of difference from WaMu. And speaking of WaMu, both their manager and customer service rep looked dumbfounded when I answered their question about why I was closing my account - to switch to a bank that invests in socially responsible local businesses. I just don't think they get that there are people who care about what their money is invested and whether or not it's doing something to help improve their community.