# Do Not Use A Bank

I took a distributism pill and ditched banks. Well, I always have
been a distributist and have hated big banks being bailed out. It
was just that I hadn't known the name of the ideology. Anyway, ins
tead of a bank you have 3 options:

1. Holding physical cash & precious metals in your house. (Best)
2. Cryptocurrency
3. Credit Union

These options together could completely substitute your need to us
e a bank.


## Holding physical cash & precious metals in your house

Physical cash is currently one of the most private payment method
and it works as long as the government works. You can even pay rem
otely by sending cash in a mail. You can directly pay with your ca
sh. But it depends on the government. Also it's not immune to natu
ral disasters because it's just paper.

Precious metals are decentralized and immune to a societal collaps
e and the longterm inflation. Those are thick and hard too. But yo
u can't directly pay with your metals. Also there are fees when yo
u trade precious metals.


## Cryptocurrency

If you need to pay remotely, Monero is usually the best option. Yo
u can use other cryptocurrencies with a laundering too. But at lea
st use a cryptocurrency that is sufficiently decentralized.

DeFi sucks so much, but it can substitute investment products of a
bank. If you are careful, there are infinitely many options. Yield
farming provides very high interest rates. But it would give you a
PTSD so be careful.

It depends on electricity and the internet. Since it deals with yo
ur money, it might make you an internet addict.


## Credit Union

I haven't known this option exists. I thought they were all just b
anks. It's almost like a bank. You can deposit your money or take
a loan or make a debit/credit card. It lacks variety of financial
products and services though.

But it is actually a credit UNION. It's member-owned so when you b
ecome a member, you become an owner of the union. Then you can vot
e (every member has one vote) for the elections and can get a divi
dend as the interest for your deposit (which is actually your inve
stment on the credit union).

It's decentralized (federated) so each local credit union provides
different financial products and different interest rates. And if
you move to other place, you have to register for another local cr
edit union. You can freely use any ATM and your money will not go
anywhere though.