A couple weeks ago, we told you about Bank Transfer Day, a grassroots Facebook effort urging people to shift their funds to credit unions before November 5th in order to stick it to the bigger banks. It seems like it's actually happening. Local news outlets across the country have been reporting huge rises in applications to the nonprofit institutions. Some credit unions are seeing a 30 percent uptick; others have doubled their membership. In September, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions reported a 350 percent increase in web traffic to its online credit union locator. And more than a handful of the customers are volunteering their reason: They're pissed off at the big banks.
I would really like to get in on this opportunity to give the banks a unified giant middle finger, but sadly I am somewhat ahead of the curve as I moved my money to a Credit Union over eighteen years ago. My loans are through the credit union, as well as my credit cards, so essentially I do very little to support the banks.
Yeah I know, I'm pretty awesome.
However it is certainly not too late for all of YOU to send these financial institutes a message by withdrawing your hard earned money, stopping for a moment to bare your ass in the bank's general direction, and walking to the nearest credit union and depositing you money in a place where it can be used to benefit both you and your fellow customers while making you feel part of a sharing community.
Essentially socialism at it's best.
But remember, that word doesn't scare US.
Good editorial
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/fruit-flies-have-done-more-good-than-sarah-palin/article2220328/
I was impressed a couple of weeks ago to see CNN openly suggesting people should join credit unions. They were reporting on BofA's new $5 per-swipe debit card fee. The letter the bank sent to patrons said "we're giving you this advance notice so that you may modify your banking habits".
ReplyDeleteThe CNN commentator chimed in that credit unions don't usually charge you for anything and that joining one would certainly be "modifying your banking habits".
Dunno what's taken everyone else so long to catch on. I joined a credit union back in the mid 80's, immediately after my first experience with my bank charging me a fee for DEPOSITING money INTO my savings account.
Fuck those greedy assholes. They use your money as an investment fund to make themselves wealthy and charge you for the privilege.
We moved all of our personal and business accounts (13 in all) and our credit cards to our local credit union years ago. Got fed up with the usual deplorable big bank M.O. One of the best financial moves we've ever made. Amazing customer service - they've even called us when there's a potential problem like an overdraft. We've not incurred ONE single banking related fee since we've been with SLCU.
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you Gryph. I ditched the regular banks long ago. Now I am going to go through my portfolio and find some mutual funds not invested in the big banks. They are vulnerable to a massive failure anyway.
ReplyDeleteI am a credit union member from way back also. I have a relative who is a banker who is having fits about OWS and the "move your money" push. Very funny to watch; he is screaming socialism and communism.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you are right, this is socialism at its finest. I love it!
My girlfriend did this. She pulled her money out of Wells-Fargo and moved it to a credit union. My home owner's association did this as well. It really is catching on and I hope the banks are forced to drop all fees.
ReplyDeleteI' ve been with the Navy Federal Credit Union for over 30 years, thanks to a dad who was in the Navy. then i married a Navy man and they we stayed there for all our needs. They are actually alittle too helpful sometimes lol. Any big purchase or several over a short time frame, and any time the kids order online games, they freeze our card temporarily and call and ask us to confirm the purchase. they are very very concerned for our well being lol.
ReplyDeleteHi -- New here, and a northern neighbour, but I've been reading for several months. Love this site!
ReplyDeleteDH and I have belonged to a credit union for at least 25 years. I'm suspecting there are 2 main reasons why credit unions aren't bigger: first, perhaps not as many convenient branches, and secondly, the word "union" puts some reichwingers off! I note that BofA is rethinking its decision re ATM usage fees. People DO have the power to change things. Moving your money to a credit union (of which you will be a member with voting rights), is a giant step in the right direction.
I have been a credit union user for 15 years. No reason to ever use a bank. I wish I could convince my mother of this.
ReplyDeleteThey'll just take over the credit unions.
ReplyDeleteWatch; some bought rethuglican will introduce the "credit union reform act" which will be financed by a dismantling of Social Security.
Nothing surprises me anymore, except a lack of apathy.
I've been banking at my local credit union for 23 years now. Prior to that I was getting charged $15 per month for writing approximately 10 checks!
ReplyDeleteAnd I certainly get much better service there than at the "majors".
I highly recommend credit unions.
I've always dealt exclusively with credit unions, but unfortunately it bit me in the ass when I was forced to foreclose on my home. Both our mortgages are with credit unions and they do NOT negotiate. So we are being sued personally for the second mortgage while the first mortgagor takes back the house. I never thought I'd regret not having borrowed from a major bank!
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that only my husband signed the note on the second mortgage: they can't take away anything that has both our names on it. At least that is the law in Michigan.
Done....husband and I opened up our credit union account last month...we'll be moving our CD with BoA on Friday!!!
ReplyDeleteGryphen, Something I always do when paying for groceries.. is to get cash back..
ReplyDeleteIt eliminates going to a cash machine..and paying the extra fees..
At least, that is my impression :)
Beat you to it.
ReplyDeleteI moved exclusively to a credit union over 25 years ago. I used to be with both a bank and credit union. Then as the credit union offered more services I needed them less and less.
A few years ago my credit union offered me a fixed rate credit card. That was my last tie to big banks. My rate? 9%.
Remember, the small community banks and credit unions keep your money in the local community. Small business loans are a specialty for them. Giving them your business is a great way to help your community.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes it so fucking egregious is that BOA raised personal swipe fees in direct opposition to regulations place on how much they can charge business accounts. What they basically did was circumvent reform...like the greedy bastoids always do.
ReplyDeleteYeah right repugbaggers the free market always do right by it citizens. HA
Be sure to do your homework - not all credit unions are created equal. There has been a tremendous amount of deregulation of the CUs over the last couple of decades - to the point that they are functionally pretty much equivalent to banks. Which has upsides and downsides.
ReplyDeleteI was a member of one CU for exactly one month several years ago - had to join in order to finance a vehicle I was buying; the dealership got a kickback for the loan. So I made them give me the same rate my own CU offered and made sure the fine print said I could transfer the loan after one payment. That CU I was briefly a member of charged account and ATM fees higher than the local banks, not a good deal at all. Membership was open to any person living in Texas (CUs used to be restricted to offering membership to relatively small communities of interest) and existed as far as I could tell mostly as a shell for vehicle financing.
That said, I have always used CUs almost exclusively since I was old enough to write my name (thank you daddy). The "almost" is only because way back when they were not allowed to offer checking type accounts.
I moved my money a few years ago...now I still like the strategy of returning their business reply envelopes stuffed with something heavy...
ReplyDeleteB of A = absolute worst I've ever encountered. ridiculous !
Before becoming a political liberal, I was of the opinion that the conservative approach was best.
ReplyDeleteThat was before the move to putting a label of "socialism" on everything that would be for the public good.
Maybe that is why Republicans are now voting against repairing roads and bridges, which used to be their rally cry.
They sure don't have a problem with all of us chipping in to have a gigantic military (suddenly, somehow that is NOT socialistic.)
One might conclude that the reason they are so protective of the big banks and the military, has to do with how much money from those sources went into electing the traitors who are currently doing everything possible to sabotage the economy--all in the name of trying to recapture the office of the President.
If moving our meager savings out of the big banks can mean something, if done on a massive enough scale, count me in.
I moved from BOA over twenty years ago, but I went with Wells Fargo. I left them 4 years ago and went to a credit union and never looked back.
ReplyDeleteI encourage all of my friends to move their accounts and so far they have!!!
I hate to be a wet blanket, but many credit unions also stick it to the people. I was researching some credit unions in my area, and at least one had the same exorbitant fees that banks do. I also recently read that some credit unions in Florida have been suing people who lost their houses to foreclosure in order to recoup their "losses" - even though the credit unions now own the homes. Granted, this was a WSJ article, so it could have been full of shit.
ReplyDeleteTo think that banking should be a competitive industry is not socialist, but capitalist.
ReplyDeleteThe alliance between monopolistic finance and the state in this country is socialist.
Those who move their money are far more capitalist than the bankers who want to stop you from moving it.
Like anything else, from a big purchase to a loan, you have to do your home work.
ReplyDeleteAs far as joining anything to get a car loan, you walk away from the car if they force you to do anything. Believe me they'll change their tune PDQ if they really are on the up and up. Why didn't you get a loan from your existing CU?
Not What, of course they want to collect what is owned to their owners (you know the people who joined the credit union?) They may own the house but if it is worth less than the loan, the former owner is on the hook for it, just like they would be for a car loan. Why don't people see that in the first place?
Here's the rest of the story.
ReplyDeleteImmediately, TODAY, stop spending your money at international conglomerates' box stores. In Alaska and everywhere else too.
Understand that it's not about the size of the operation - it's the business strategy and interrelationship with international investment banking.
WalMart. Home Depot. Tesoro. Chili's. Boston Garden. Barnes and Noble. Starbucks. Appleby's. Amazon.com. Office Max. McDonald's. Sports Authority. Toys R Us.
For every service and commodity, there's an Alaska/Pacific Northwest business that sells it and provides it.
BUY IT LOCAL. SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS. PUT MONEY INTO LOCAL ECONOMY. COMPETITION IS GOOD.
No excuses. Put your money and intentions where your mouth and philosophical righteousness are.
Essential One is Alaska owned and Alaska gas. Local ownership, local employees. The gas price is cheaper than some Tesoros and Holidays in town because of the price-fixing that they do. Why is gas MORE expensive in poor areas of town than at stations in south Anchorage?!
In the end, go ahead, PAY the 2 cents more per gallon.
It doesn't require a huge commitment or modifying ALL your spending. Just a little bit. All you have to do is consciously make the choice, one expenditure and one day at a time.
Just this one time, choose to order Joe McGinnis' book from Metro Music and Books and wait the three days for it to arrive, instead of ordering it online or grabbing it from Barnes and Noble.
Just this one time, go to Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking for your NorthFace and Patagonia, instead of buying it at Sports Authority. Don't have the color you wanted? Ask them to order it. They will. Be patient. Be old-fashioned.
Just this one time, get your dinner fixings at Fred Meyer's instead of Target.
Just this one time, drive a little bit further to get to Spenard Building Supplies or Alaska Industrial Hardware for your tube of silicone or drill bit, even though Lowe's is on the next block.
MAKE THE TIME TO DO THAT. IF IT REALLY MATTERS TO YOU.
Grab your lunch at a great local cafe instead of Appleby's.
McDonald's? You can go without. Try Carl's Jr. Wee-Bee's. Lucky Wishbone. Hamburger Haven. Max's Beefy Burgers. Tastes better anyway. Same price by the time you're done fooling around with super-sizing your fries and substituting your drink.
By the way - they are NOT "locally-owned and operated" by Alaskans. Check land ownership of McDonald's on Arctic, Huffman, Wasilla, anywhere. You'll see that McDonald's USA/McDonald's Corporation, Oak Brook, Illinois, owns it all. Check the corporations information through the state of Alaska.
One problem I see with a credit union is that CU's generally do not have too many ATMs. When I travel to other states, my Too Big To Fail Bank has ATMs, so I never have to pay a fee.
ReplyDeleteSomeone did point out that USAA will pay $15 of ATM fees for you a month, so I might look into that.
I have been a credit union member for many years too, but I had the pleasure today of going in with an elderly neighbor to begin the process of transferring her money out of B of A and into her county credit union.
ReplyDeleteEveryday Freethought, somebody already pointed out that you can get substantial cash back at many stores when you purchase something. ATMs are not a necessity. If you do need an ATM, frequently credit unions have reciprocal agreements with others around the country. Mine does, and I check online to find out what credit unions in these large cooperatives are available where I am.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that is why I broke up with Chase over two years ago and moved my money to a credit union.
ReplyDeleteCar loan was there too before I paid it off.
"One problem I see with a credit union is that CU's generally do not have too many ATMs."
ReplyDeleteSo what? My CU has exactly ONE ATM, I've never used it and it doesn't matter anyway. On the rare occasion I need an ATM, my debit card works just fine at any of em, all of 'em. And the fee the ATM owner's bank tacks on is still less than half of what BofA was going to stick people with.
To me, an ATM is just for emergencies. My Debit card works like a credit card wherever I shop or buy gas. I'm with the other poster who said just get cash back when buying groceries and avoid the ATM altogether.
There is something that everyone needs to be alerted to right now as mortgage refinances are booming. Some of the biggest banks, particularly Wells Fargo use a subsidiary company to "manage" appraisals. This entity, called RELS, bullies appraisers into accepting less than market fees for their work and then charges the home owner several hundred dollars on top of that for the "appraisal management" service. They make the appraisers sign an agreement that they won't tell the home owner how much their fee was because Wells Fargo doesn't want the home owner to know they are skimming $200-$300 more for themselves and claiming it is the appraisal fee. If the appraisers complain, they remove them from their panel. Home owners are getting scammed. Also, Wells Fargo uses an in-house appraiser for as many jobs as they can, and he has very limited experience and training in our community. I would love to see the Realtors in this community refuse to use Wells Fargo until they stop these practices. They are undermining home values by using inexperienced or incompetent appraisers in many instances, and definitely making a killing in these ridiculous and unnecessary fees.
ReplyDeleteThe grass isn't always greener on the other side. When I bought my house, Fleet (now BofA) made a nightmare out of my closing. So I decided to switch to the only credit union in town, thinking I'd get much better customer service. It turned out to be an even bigger nightmare.
ReplyDeleteI opened up a joint savings/checking account, with overdraft protection. For $7, they'd transfer money from savings into checking. Every weekend, like clockwork, the ATM would report I had insufficient funds. Turned out the ATMs went down for maintenance every weekend, and this was their friendly way of reporting it. Customer service was only available during office hours, so there was no way to find this out until Monday. Of course they didn't have on-line banking either. On one occasion I used my overdraft protection. No biggie, I had plenty in my savings and $7 was a lot less than an overdraft fee. The second time would have been the same day my paycheck got direct-deposited. This time their ATM reported my accounts were closed. Again, I can't get this straitened out until Monday. I was told it was closed because of the overdraft. I spoke to a manager, and was told the same thing. I asked if I was only allowed to use overdraft protection once, and the answer was "We expect you to keep track of your account." They still accepted my $2000 paycheck even though my account was closed. So I couldn't access it or the $8000 in savings. Because of a $100 overdraft, which should have cost $7.
I think I'd be biting off my nose to spite my face if I end up with nasty customer service (when available), no on-line banking, more unreasonable policies and more ATM fees to punish BofA.
Both our mortgages are with credit unions and they do NOT negotiate.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that has much to do with the credit union. I had the exact scenario with a short sale -- my second mortgage lender came after me. I did end up settling with them, after they turned it over to a collections agency.
If you could get a lot of people at once to close down their accounts you could create a bank run and screw up a bank. Of course there could be some collateral damage in that. Seeing as these types of campaigns have a small effect I guess that they are generally a good way to apply a bit of political pressure. If a campaign such as this really took off though it could have some unintended negative consequences.
ReplyDelete- Nick G
I've been a member for ages for business and personal banking, and it's been, by far, the best decision I ever made. The customer service is stellar. Ours has a mutual agreement with a major bank to use their atm's with no fee. Free Checking, and competetive rates on loans, mortgages and investments.
ReplyDeleteOurs has a "rewards program" and a website with companies that give exclusive discounts to our CU members, links to companies that give discounts to all CU members, and codes for checkout's on online sites.
Do your research and shop around before joining a CU and find one that suits your needs.
The OWS movement has raised awareness, and now that banks are listening, it's time to shift our money out of their paws and into CU's in droves.
Occupy Wall Street
Shop locally
Boot the politicians on both sides that obstruct job creation with their votes, they don't speak for us.
Vote Obama 2012
OT - Welcome Aboard to the new posters.
Not everyone has access to a credit union but you can also just go to a smaller, local bank and accomplish the same thing.
ReplyDeleteOur family right now is engaged in a battle with B of A that is beyond belief. We are very angry. This bank seems to lead the pack in nefarious practices.
ReplyDeleteSaid 10:09:
ReplyDelete"
The alliance between monopolistic finance and the state in this country is socialist. "
No, that is fascist.
Socialism got a bad name because the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union called themselves socialist. But their socialism was the best part of their society, and it is also the best part of ours.
Long time reader, first time poster!
ReplyDeleteWhile in college I used HSBC as my bank since they had branches both at home and where I was attending school. This was ideal in case of an emergency my family could easily deposit money into the account and there would be no hold time.
When I came home from school I maintained this account but it was not a pleasant experience. I was constantly assaulted by fees, especially overdraft fees as I was supporting an unemployed mother on a retail salary. When I came in in my work garb, their noses were so high in the air it was amazing they could see me at all.
I finally gave up on them once I needed a loan for a 10+ yr old car and they practically laughed me out of the bank. I went to one of my local credit unions practically in tears since I needed a loan (I had been saving money knowing my car would go sooner than later).
They were not only helpful and respectful but were glad to give me a very reasonable loan which I paid off within 3 years. I immediately switched all my banking to them, and haven't regretted it since.
My credit union has all the perks of a big bank even member rewards and such, no minimum balance fees, etc. They run free seminars in the community educating people about improving credit and savings as well as setting up donations to local charities and helping encourage local businesses.
They helped me manage my mother's accounts when she was dying of cancer and asked every week how she was until she passed in July. They still ask me how I am every time I go to my branch.
Yes, not every credit union is the same so do your research but I wholly support this movement and would participate if I still had accounts to move. It feels great to know that my money benefits my community and not some big banksters.
Thanks for all you do Gryph!
As far as joining anything to get a car loan, you walk away from the car if they force you to do anything. Believe me they'll change their tune PDQ if they really are on the up and up. Why didn't you get a loan from your existing CU?
ReplyDeleteI did get the loan from my existing CU. I had the loan pre-approved with an excellent rate before I even started looking, so when it was time to close the deal with the dealership, and they wanted me to finance with this other CU, I of course said no deal until they made it worth my trouble. They sweetened the pot a bit in order to get their finder's fee for the loan, which they did tell me about. I still didn't sign until I'd gone over the loan documents thoroughly and verified the process for transferring the loan to my own CU, who by the way also gave me a $50 rebate for moving my auto loan to them, in addition to the excellent terms I'd already been offered and that the other CU had, of course, to match.
Funny thing is that this was a pretty small loan as those things go, a used vehicle and we had cash for about half the purchase price. I got the loan at the terms I wanted and the total purchase price actually ended up being slightly less than I was willing to pay. The vehicle was desperately needed (we had no second vehicle, and a small child at the time) and fit our needs perfectly, and in fact it we still drive it and it is in great shape. So I wasn't going to stand too much on principal even though I didn't like all the stupid dealer tricks, which I was fully aware of thanks to excellent consumer education materials provided by, yes, my Credit Union (the real one!)
As far as walking away, yes, the next time we bought a car I just about gave my spouse a heart attack because I did that, I made a lowball offer for a vehicle we really, really wanted and was particularly hard to find, but this one had a minor cosmetic flaw and had been sitting on the lot for a while. I told them that we were actually looking for a cheapo second car, as a convenience not a necessity, and that our offer for this vehicle they had was about twice the amount we were planning on spending for a second car as it was, true that, so it really was just an impulse purchase (I didn't mention that we had driven forty miles to see it, since there were none for sale in our city at the time) and if they couldn't sell it to us at that price, no big deal. I got up and walked out the door and they did literally come running after me in the parking lot! And I did this on a bank holiday, so they couldn't play any finance games. Next day I went back with the loan stuff all taken care of through my CU and picked up my new (to me) car.
In both cases I was honest about not being emotionally attached to the vehicle, which is a strong position to negotiate from. My spouse on the other hand was a puddle of anxiety both times, as he could NOT believe I was willing to let "the one" get away. (On the other hand, he can actually pick out his car in the parking lot; to me they all look like this - big black truck, big black truck, little red car, little green car, Obamanos sticker - cool!, little red car, you get the picture...)