Ask HN: How can I start my own bank? (Let's redesign banks)
I'm sick and tired of banks. This all started with a personal irresponsibility, an overdraft fee I tried to pay by traveling to an ATM and depositing the difference in cash. My local bank doesn't accept cash in ATM's... so I might get nabbed with another fee tomorrow morning.

Decent banks still have their glaring flaws, and most big banks are quite simply crooks. Local banks typically do a decent job competing since they need to in order to steal customers from big institutions like Chase and Wells Fargo, but in places like Hawaii (where I live and work) those banks don't exist. So.. local banks such as Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, etc... don't need to do as much to compete because they're all there is. I get a $26 overdraft charge on even a $1 charge, and I don't get notified for 3 days via a note in the mail. By then things are even worse. Services like Mint help... but they don't work all the time. A bank needs to solve this, but they never will because so much of their profits come from these kinds of fees.

I'm also a customer with ING Direct where they do a great job providing more than all other banks by not having any branches. They exist purely online, so their online services are great. I can pay my rent online and they mail out a paper check to my landlord. If I need a check somewhere real fast, they can do that too and overnight it for a $20 fee. They also give you a line of credit for overdrafts, instead of charging you an overdraft. You pay a tiny bit of interest and solve the problem with a few cents down the tube. ING falls slightly short because while not having branches helps keep their overhead low, it makes it harder for customers to use their services. I have to mail a check to some place 5000 miles away (again, a lot of my anguish is probably due to being in Hawaii) and wait for it to appear in my account.

There are big stinky issues with our financial system today. My problems aren't incredibly large, I have $500 to my name and I'm 20 years old with zero investments. I'm not talking Enron here. I mean... why can't I receive money from a client overseas instantly into my account without going through someone like Paypal (who can take control of my funds at any time)? Why aren't all banks letting me take a photo of my check and get the funds like USAA does? Why doesn't a bank send me an email or text message as soon as my funds get to a certain point, or when I overdraft? Banks are OLD technology and they really need to be brought up to speed. I'd spend night and day working on something to revolutionize the banking industry, from top to bottom. What do we need to do guys? I imagine that all of you have LOTS of more ideas and feedback for banks and this problem in general.

Further reading on the topic - http://ma.tt/2009/08/starting-a-bank/

Come on HN, let's start a BANK! I realize it's incredibly hard... there are security issues and more legal issues than I care to shake a stick at. It will require capital, experience^200, etc.. No one is going to give their money to some jacknob 20 year old like myself. I want all of your feedback though, I know that we all hate our banks.