Any interest in a real SL bank?

... with a solid business plan which will pay around 6-7% interest yearly?

I am thinking of starting a bank in SL that is not a ponzi scheme. Once I iron out some details such as the cost of getting a reliable atm scripted, and getting my trading limits raised (I have read this takes some time lately), and getting Second Lifer's opinions, I will get these wheels turning.

Anyone have any ideas or feedback?

Are you talking about a bank or an investment (i.e. a savings and loan, or an LP interest in an investment fund)?

I am thinking of a bank, where people could deposit and withdraw from their accounts at any time.

Would you require collateral for loans?

No, I will make individual assesments on each loan.

Based on what?

Why would anyone even need a bank? I buy Ls as needed via my credit card and have two SL jobs which brings in a small amount of Ls. Even without the jobs, if I need Ls, I just buy a few thousand Ls worth. Its not like I have an onerous amount of Ls rattleing around in my purse, stuffed under my electronic mattress or hidden in an electronic cookie jar somewhare. Its an interesting concept but I do not see the risk of basically making an unsecured loan to total stranger [the bank] as being justified by whatever negligible benefits could be accrued to the depositor/lender. Perhaps I am missing something.

-based on what?

I would say credit rating and past preformance with credit would be main considerations.

-why need a bank?

It seems there is a lots of lindens lying around if the numbers on Ginko can be anywhere near accurate. Seems a good many people are willing to take just the sort of risk you are talking about on absolutely NO information on how Ginko makes their money.

I think I will be in a position to provide a safer haven than Ginko as I will be fairly transparent about what I will be doing with deposits.

How would you measure this? Over half of the SL population is non-American with no FICO score.



What will you be doing with deposits? 100% loans to residents? Loans of what size? Will you be doing anything else with deposits?

My question is, how can we trust you? Don't take it personally, but you are less then a month old, why would I trust you with my money?

-less than a month old

Yes, I know I am young, but this won't really get going for a little while yet.

-non-American without FICO scores

-what will you be doing with the deposits

I don't want to give away my idea before I start, but once I open the doors to my bank, you will get a complete run down on what I will be doing with deposits. The way I see it, that gives me a big leg up on the competition. I would go as far as returning deposits via paypal if SL ever closes shop.

i stuck 1k in ginko like 8 months ago forgot about it until now but honestly i'm not sure how you could properly manage a bank in SL credit rating means what? in SL there is none really so you would rely on real world credit ratings? which that means we have to give sensitive info into the void to an avatar in SL? no to that

I have no credit rating in SL i pay lindens for stuff and buy and sell stuff no one records any of it really only word of mouth would provide any credit rating which wont work either..

so your basing it on trust which well that is what ginko does if you want to make a bank fine loans wont work you have no real way to check reliability and neither does the customer unless you want to start breaking the Linden TOS or something

I will be glad to explain my plan once I get the doors open.

What I am just trying to find out here is if people would be interested in stashing their extra lindens in a bank with a transparent plan and more realistic returns.

If you have such a brilliant idea, why don't you start it and there is no need to consult anyone in this forum if a bank is needed.

I'm not saying it is brilliant, but I am stuck waiting until I find a scripter to help me and my trading limits get over 250 dollars a month.

I was curious as to people' reponses as I have read through some Ginko threads and their main concern seems to be a lack of responsiveness by Ginko. That made me wary. The fact that they are lowering interest rates as they get more deposits, made me withdraw my funds from them.

possibly wont know till its a reality and likely i would only stash a fwe hundred lindens just in case just like people do with ginko

If you're not talking about a savings and loan, and you will be investing the deposits, then you're really talking about an investment fund. "Bank" is a misnomer.

But if you are doing a savings and loan, you have to think that anyone needing a 10,000L loan probably doesn't have a good credit rating in the real world...

Fair enough, and thanks for your input.

To add to this since i use my credit card if i want to buy lindens (which is a rare thing) which is already a loan I dont think I would be borrowing inside the actual second life framework i would prefer to do a limit buy or save it up and as rockwell says if someone is having trouble getting 10k lindens it likely means they have a crapy credit rating in real world and cant buy lindens on the lindex .


again though asking for real world information in the game is not something I would be advocating or taking part in.

My questions and advice would be:

Are you going to tell people who you are in real life? If not, you may as well forget it. It is almost a joke these days at how many "banks" open up in SL and the people refuse to tell any real world info. Without real world info, you are more less saying "I'm a scam and/or I don't want to tell you who I really am as then you'll find out I'm really a kid living in my mom's basement and I have no clue what it is I’m doing."

How is this a "real" bank in SL? Looks to be the same as most other banks from what I can tell. There are already banks in SL who tell you just about everything and pay lower rates. SL Bank pays about 20% per year and tells you everything and then OurBank pays about 6.5% per year and at least tells you who he is in real life, but not much else.

Do you have a background in finance or econ? If not, what makes you think you are qualified or even know how to run a "bank?"

From what it looks like (waiting for my trading limit to go up) you want to move L$ out of world. You do understand that by moving more than $5KUSD through Paypal or any other method gets a statement sent to the IRS, right? You have to pay taxes on any L$ you move out of world. So, not only would you have to cover your interest rates, but you'd have to cover your loses via taxes as well. Then there are lawyers and accounting fees. Then, what happens if the L$ gains value? You lose your hat. Again, you'd need to be a trained economist to know how to avoid these risks (or if you even can).

Lastly, many noobs to SL get here and see these in world "banks" and then think "I want one of those!" In reality, unless you are trained in the field of econ or finance and know exactly what it is you are doing, all you are setting yourself up for by opening an in world "bank" is lots of scrutiny (the media has been coming down hard on inworld virtual banks recently), followed by (once you fail, which you will if you don't know what you are doing) law suites, fines and maybe even jail time. At least before you try and start a "bank" in SL, wait a few more months and actually study the economy of SL for a while. No one month old noob (not trying to be mean here) is going to have any idea of how to build a chair, not to mention know how the whole virtual economy works. Start a little store, it will be more fun and you won't lose your (or anyone else’s) life savings.

Why?
It isn't like RL where, If you try to Carry 100K around in your Pockets, it's either Unsafe, or Impracticle.
Bank in SL would serve No purpose but to Enrich the owner (Much like a Real Bank) but would not Fill the same RL needs as those needs simply do not exist within SL.
LL would likely Never offer such a completely redundant service, and take on the Attendant responsibility, so that would mean a Player established Bank. That being the case, What Guarantees would be Offered that they would not simply Fold, and all the depositors money would Disappear? In RL Banks are federally insured (Up to a specific amount). No such assurance could or would exist in SL.
No, One would have to be a Complete Rube to Invest or deposit in an SL Bank.

A Fool and his Money,,, But then, you Know the rest.

Angel.

I'd be interested in a bank in SL that operated under proper State of California regulation (including annual audits) and that was FDIC insured. Short of that, no thank you.

Kam

Those who feel they need it will use it. I really don't need it. I was happy with ginko when i used their services a year ago or so. The rumors of how their getting the money to pay your interests, and the usage of the avatar scanners that lagged the sim i used to work in, caused me to pull out. I only trust myself with my money these days. I use a alt to stash my cash. I'm ok with the fact that it doesn't gather interest that way too.

What can you provide in a SL-based bank that I can't get from my bank down on Main Street?

You mean like Bank of Secondlife, Bank of SL, or Bank of Rest? Check search, Uvas, it's already been done.