Bankers and lawyers and financial literacy . . .

“I banked this entrepreneur through three bankruptcies because I believed in him.  Ultimately he hit and is one of our most successful clients.”

I interviewed this loan officer in the sea of dark marble at the Toronto branch of a Canadian clearing bank,  doing research for sales training. 

Even at the time, I knew this financial access wasn’t available to everyone.

I remember my father Ray reflecting on his father Harry and Culler Printing. 

“Harry always thought that bankers and lawyers were ‘thieves in suits,’ so when I took over the shop I avoided them too.”

“We financed the Heidelberg [a large four-color offset press] through the Heidelberg company because I thought the bank would steal it if we missed a payment. Harry and his father-in-law homesteaded and cleared 175 acres on Alligator Alley and I lost it for $7 in back taxes in 1934 because I didn’t trust the lawyer to negotiate with the taxman.” 

This is my family legacy. 

I hate debt. Despite my MBA, I never learned Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad lessons,  like generating passive income like Mike Johnson talks about. 

I am fortunate. I had some good years. I’m not a billionaire, but I’m retired, living the downsized dream.

It is a financially unequal world. Low income people,  especially people of color,  are at an extreme financial disadvantage and, like my father, distrust the people who might help them get a leg up.

Some would say – “That’s THEIR problem! Nobody GAVE me anything!” 

Some would take advantage of this group with payday loans and worse.

Some would say “It’s hopeless – depressing!” I‘ve felt that way myself.

That’s why I was heartened to learn that someone I know is doing something about this crisis.

A start-up called Percapita plans to bank the underbanked and help low wage workers enter the financial system. They plan to offer a digital financial services platform with a variety of products. They are partnering with corporations, giving their workforces access to financial products for the lowest fees in the industry.

Percapita is a business, not a charity. They're using capitalism as a force for good. I wish there were more such businesses.

Full disclosure: I know Alex Ehrlich, one of Percapita’s founders. Alex was the student lecture chairman at NYU in 1978-79, my customer when I was a speakers agent. Alex and I maintained contact over the intervening 43 years, including a lunch recently. Other than this relationship,  I have no stake in the company and Alex did not ask me to write this.

Percapital is a startup. They’re raising money, looking for corporate partners in hospitality and healthcare.  It isn’t clear they’ll make it.

I believe they could change a part of what is wrong with the world. 

I hope you will follow them, tell others, and join me in hoping for their success.

Percapita

https://www.percapita.com/

Maybe then the next Alligator Alley story will have a better outcome.