New Space Credit Union

Sepatuads.com   Maret 20, 2010   Business Case, idea, Space Business   Comment  

A reader sent me this idea.  What do you think?  A viable business?  Please comment pros and cons.

Idea: Offer an Internet based Credit Union (think E-Trade except an online Credit Union instead of stock trading ) where profits from the organization are used to fund a combination of space prizes, R&D, and new space business ventures.  A few more details:

• Federally charted to operate in all 50 states
• Sign ATM/branch sharing agreements with existing brick and mortar credit unions to provide instant national reach (and great customer service)
• As with all credit unions, each account holder has a voting share.
• 1-3 years to start one with significant paperwork
• Here is one site's 10 steps to starting your own credit union

I know very little about the nuts and bolts of banking.  But here are the things I like about a New Space Credit Union:

• Relatively low start up capital since you would use depositors funds to offer loans and make investments.
• Would garner significant support from existing New Space advocates adding early membership
• Assuming competitive rates with other similar financial institutions, advocates would not need to sacrifice financial return or customer service to support the industry.
• Competive rates and services would even draw non-advocates leveraging their deposits as well - all in the name of space development
• There many successful credit unions across the country - no new technology is being pioneered.  Professionals exist that could be brought on board to run this one successfully.

So now the questions:

• Has this already been done?  Is there already a new space credit union out there focused on using its profits to expand the frontier?  How about credit unions focused on non-space frontier expansion that could serve as a model?
• How profitable could such a venture be assuming 1, 3, 5 thousand members?  I can model revenue fairly easily, but costs are hard to approximate without more knowledge about the industry.  I need to do some primary research.

Since I don't know much about credit unions, I called someone who does.  In the coming weeks, I am interviewing the President of local Credit Union with about 10 branches (finalizing a time now).  I want to find out more about the details of his industry, the profit potential of a credit union, expected costs, etc.  I will update this post with the results of that interview.

So now I need your thoughts.  I hope there are others smarter than me on this that can weigh in.