Community is far far better... Private banking had never been shown to be effective in the long term.

From your question it is not clear that what kind of stem cell banking are you talking about. Still I take it as umbilical cord blood banking which is commonest. Look to start with cord blood banking is still in nascent stage. There are only few reports of the therapy so it’s usefulness is still in doubt. This stored blood can be used for stem cell transplant in same child or in another child. Most of the private banks say it will be given to your child if required. But for self it will not be useful in most diseases because even those blood cells will have that disease. It’s more useful for other children who require stem cell transplant. Community banking is better because the blood collected from your baby can be used for others if matched. Your profit is only that you will be given priority for stem cell transplant if required for your baby. The purpose of writing a lengthy answer is just to tell you truth. In nut shell umbilical cord banking is a promise of tomorrow.. whether beneficial or not only time will tell. As of now it is more of money making business than reality. Still if you want to go for it community banking will be better.