That's not why I have a bank account. It's how you avoid paying fees to get checks cashed. If you want interest, you put it in a savings account, or a CD, also in a bank. The only safe alternative is savings bonds.
If you want to gamble the money, then you invest in stocks, bonds, etc.
... isn't how banking actually works.
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/quarterly-bulletin/2014/q1/m...
If I want interest I'd then switch to another type of account, that I explicitly allow to lend them out for this purpose.
In fact, they should have seggregated isolated-from-others-in-default accounts, with different fractional reserve percentages...
As fiduciaries responsible for managing millions of dollars in capital, founders/VC have a responsibility to understand the parameters of the financial game they're playing.
Any competent financial risk manager has a well-worn playbook of solutions to the problem of "how do we put money in short/medium/long-term storage?", that are appropriate in accordance to how big the pile is and how liquid you need it to be.
If we disagree with the rules of the game, the proper solution is to lobby to have them changed and debate the merits in the court of public opinion, not to live in ignorance of the rules and cry "contagion" to be made whole, when we're faced with the consequences of ignoring those rules.
Putting your money in a bank is essentially the same as investing it, but with a few more safeguards that you're exchanging for losing out on profit.
Get 3.3%, at least.