Occupy movement activists in San Francisco first announced plansfor People's Reserve Credit Union, an in-the-works cooperativedesigned to serve local communities and take a stand against thecity's for-profit banks, in November 2011. The project is now well under way, with board and advisory committee meetingstaking place and fundraising initiatives scheduled, said BrianMcKeown, an Occupy leader who is spearheading the People's Reserve CUproject.

According to organizers, People's Reserve CU has met theCalifornia Department of Financial Institutions' requirements for anew credit union and will soon apply for certification. ACalifornia DFI spokesperson said the department has spoken with aPeople's Reserve CU representative but has not yet received anapplication.

In the mean time, the group is focusing their efforts on raisingcapital, creating a People's Reserve CU buzz in their communitiesand consulting with experts on strategies for the credit union'slaunch. McKeown said they plan to open their first branch in SanFrancisco's low-income Tenderloin neighborhood as early as in fall2013.

“We are excited to have come this far,” he said. “I have hadthousands of conversations with people wanting to help and thesupport has been overwhelming. Now we need to convert that into ourfundraising efforts and get to work using local money to buildopportunity and community where it is most needed.”

Fundraising projects for the future credit union includedistributing a video that tells the People's Reserve CU story,which might bring in some cash but is primarily intended to raiseawareness, and a social media campaign, McKeown said. He added thatseveral of the founders have backgrounds in music, either as clubowners or musicians, and plan to hold fundraising events featuringlive entertainment. The group has also partnered with organizationssuch as Ethix Merchant Services in Oakland, Calif., an independentsales organization that offers merchant account credit cardprocessing services to businesses and nonprofits, and theBellingham, Wash.-based Business Alliance for Local LivingEconomies .

Backers are working toward raising the traditionally needed$500,000 in capital to open a financial institution, McKeown said,and expects to acquire a bulk of that during upcoming fundraisingevents. They've also launched a website, www.peoplesreserve.org, whichallows the public to make donations and complete a survey on theirfinancial services needs.

“Raising money is a big challenge,” he said. “We didn't want togo to corporations, so that narrows our field. We just startedfundraising, so we're not in the six figure range yet. I think whenit starts coming in, it's going to come in bigger waves.”

The credit union's organizers have also released names of theirboard and advisory committee members. Serving on the board will beMcKeown; Bianca Velishek, vice president for the California Leagueof Women Voters; Abdus Salam, Rajshahi division chief executive forGrameen Bank in Bangladesh and Sara Batterby, chief developmentofficer for Ethix Merchant Services.

Advisory committee members include Geoff MacDonald, director ofasset management for the Community Housing Partnership in SanFrancisco; Dan Leibsohn, CEO for Community Development Finance inOakland; San Francisco entrepreneur and community action groupadvisor Brent Turner and San Francisco attorney Josh Irwin.

People's Reserve CU intends to offer savings accounts, branchbanking, online banking, free access to hundreds of participatingATMs, micro-enterprise loans, low-interest student loans, low-feecheck cashing, payday loan services and small business loans,organizers said. McKeown said he hopes the credit union willeventually reach an asset size figure in the tens of billions.

“Our goal is to be a community development credit union,” hesaid.