#304—Why Greg Kidd chose Tulsa
And why Vast Bank chose Greg
Welcome to Yaka Stuff, our weekly newsletter that covers news, industry perspectives, and updates from the Hard Yaka ecosystem. Check out our last report here.
This week:
Why Greg Kidd chose Tulsa
What we’re watching: Greg for Nevada
Stuff happens
1. Why Greg Kidd chose Tulsa
Hard Yaka co-founder Greg Kidd recently finalized his investment in Vast Bank, making him the majority shareholder of the Tulsa-based community bank with Hard Yaka partner Chris Lewis serving as chairman of the board.
Last week, Tulsa World published a front page feature on the deal.
Here’s Greg on why he chose Vast Bank:
“Three years ago, we began a search … for a bank that would be a community bank, but that also had an appetite that down the road would also be able to service people with basic banking services, not just in their local market, but outside,” Kidd explained in an interview with the Tulsa World last month. “And so we looked high and far. And the thing that was really attractive about Vast was, you had folks—we weren’t necessarily looking to do crypto with a bank; we have crypto with other companies we’re invested in—but they had the right attitude towards innovation and experimentation.”
And here’s why Vice Chairman Tom Biolchini, whose family has run the bank since 1982, chose Greg:
“And that was easy,” Bilchini said. “It was a Saturday morning, and I’m on the phone and I’m learning more about Greg Kidd and his group. And he told me that his mission, ultimately, was to serve the unbanked and underserved.
“He said, ‘It may not be in my lifetime, but I would like to find a way to bank those people that don’t have access to banking.’ And that aligns directly with the Bilchinis’ mission in Tulsa. It was at that moment, no kidding, that I knew we were going to partner with Greg Kidd.”
Finally, Greg on his ultimate mission as well as his Congressional campaign:
“Everybody that enjoys what Vast can do locally, within the Tulsa metropolitan area, I’d love for folks all over the country and potentially all over the world to have that same access,” Kidd said.
…
“So how do you do things quickly and efficiently? You know, when you’re not face-to-face,” Kidd said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t want face-to-face. It doesn’t mean we don’t want to have the advantages of community banking. … So what you want to keep is the small personal touch of community banking, but you want to do that at scale. And that is the challenge of our time.
…
“If you look at my campaign slogan, it’s free—not as free, you don’t have to pay for it—but freedom, fair, wild, and for all that to happen, it means that people have to have access,” Kidd said. Whether that’s access and control over their own data, over their vote, over their medical records.
“But obviously, the thing that we’re really focused on is money. How do people get direct control and access to their money?”
2. What we’re watching: Greg Kidd for Nevada:
3. Stuff happens: