A friend tips me off to a plan promoted by the OWS folks to encourage people to take this Saturday November 5 — Guy Fawkes Day — and move their accounts from banks to credit unions. Says my friend:
It’s a twist on the Jimmy Stewart movie: the mob calling for us to move our money BACK to Bailey Building and Loan…
You planning to participate? Why or why not?
Stef says: We already bank at a credit union and at a local bank.
Other suggestions (not that OWS takes them from me, ha:)
- stop using your credit card unless it’s impractical to use cash
- pay cash at local businesses which you like; which are important to you to have around. Credit and debit card swipe fees eat small local businesses alive.
- switch your credit cards to local / regional banks, especially those that are privately-held.
- don’t take out loans unless it’s absolutely necessary (say, you have to have a car in order to work, or have to get it repaired.)
- If you qualify, some local / regional banks offer “free student checking” accounts. Even when you’re no longer a student, they don’t check; they just keep the account going.
- plan your trips so you never need to incur ATM fees.
Banks make a lot of money on peoples’ carelessness and lack of attention to financial details.
Bruce G says: Yes! I’ve been planning to move my business account to the credit union where my personal account is. Would love to do it that day to make a statement.
Had thought about my credit card as well. I’m tired of supporting the NY perps I keep seeing in the headlines paying this or that penalty for wrongdoing.
Love the raven hopping around on the counter (Uncle Billy’s pet, shades of Poe) and Uncle Billy himself caught taking a snort as the panicky locals pour in!
“This is a pickle, George, this is a pickle!”
Marcie says: We’ve been thinking about switching to a local credit union (and finding other good places to invest instead of the stock market) for a long time, and have begun working on that process, not in response to the Nov. 5th thing specifically. But if Nov. 5th gets a movement towards good alternatives to conventional banking in motion, I say, cheers to that.
And the “slow money movement” is interesting:
http://www.slowmoney.org/
Susan says: We have moved to a local bank after terrible service from a national bank. We also have accounts at a credit union.
My grandfather was a banker in North Dakota during the depression. His only bad loan was secured by a team of horses, and one of the horses died. Needless to say, he did not engage in credit default swaps. Long live George Bailey!
Pyrrho says: We should add mutual savings bank to the list of good guys.
Speaking of lists, here’s a nationwide list of mutual savings banks. It’s incomplete, as I can think of a couple in my area that are not on this list.
TWylite says: I would, but my investment adviser Harvey the six-foot Bunny says I should stay put at the mid-sized, moderately TARP-tippling bank I’m at now, unless things really get bad.
We have our money split between a local credit union and a locally-owned bank. If that weren’t already the case, I would move everything over.
MH - scientismist says: We’re already a member of a credit union.
Al-Dhariyat says: No dice. I’ve been with the same big national bank for years and am quite satisfied. This bank didn’t get into the sub-prime mortgage mess, they didn’t go overboard on CDO’s and their base is actually built on retail and consumer banking… wow, yes a novel concept for a bank in this day and age.
Lord Karth says: My wife and I have been members of our local credit unions for years. I am actively looking around for a local bank to handle my law practice’s accounts; I’m done with Bank of America.
Your servant,
Lord Karth
JonF says: Stef,
Businesses compensate for debit/credit card fees by raising prices accordingly. (And really, the fees charged are not stratospheric, just a couple of percent– less than sales taxes). People who pay cash are in fact subsidizing those who pay with plastic.
Mitchell Young says: Auto loan, checking, savings, credit card. All through a local credit union. ATM’s? No problem, at least in California, all the credit unions are linked so you can get your money with no fee from *any* credit union, don’t know if that is national. Heck, they used to give me 6 free monthly withdrawals (on their end), even when I was overseas.
Dano says: I listened to an interview with Ms. Christian on APM’s Marketplace Money where she distanced herself from OWS because of some of their tactics.
VIGELAND: I know one of the questions that has been asked is whether this is tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
CHRISTIAN: Absolutely in no way. There’s been a lot of confusion on that. While I do appreciate the enthusiasm that Occupy Wall Street has put into Bank Transfer Day, I don’t personally condone the means of which they approach situations. I don’t believe that people should go in large groups to banks to close their accounts, bringing signage and disrespecting the bank employees. Because when you opened your account, I know you didn’t have signage and you spoke frankly and respectfully to the employee who assisted you.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/21/mm-remember-the-fifth-of-november-bank-transfer-day/
My hat’s off to her for that.
Chris says: Lower fees and better rates plus no corporate scandals and hidden Wall Street crimes. What’s not to love about credit unions. There is one local to my area that I will probably join in a couple weeks. I’ve had it with the mega-bank.
Maybe the folkes over at the Fawkes Newes Channel (“You Plot: We Decide: You Hang™) will do a segment on it on Saturday’s edition of Fawkes and Friends.
Not planning to, because I’m moving spring of next year, and will move my accounts to a credit union at that time. I see no sense in moving my stuff to a credit union locally in a few days, only to have to do it again in several months. Aside from which, I have direct deposit, and a my bills are all set up to pay out of my online account. So it’s not as simple as just up and moving account(s) one day as a statement. Maybe when I was 25 and had nothing but a checking account, and didn’t have direct deposit. But my middle-aged self isn’t that simplified.