PatsFanInVa

Remember remember the fifth of November

Bank Transfer Day Attracts 81,900 RSVPs on Facebook

Evidently credit union membership increased by 600,000 new accounts in the four weeks leading up to Bank Transfer Day on November 5.

This is a pure grassroots/netroots movement to move money from Wall Street banks to local institutions, particularly not-for-profit ones.

I'm sure there will be further bank transfer day actions. I am not absolutely certain what I feel about it, but at least my big fat uberbank -- like BOA -- has taken back its planned $5-to-have-a-debit-card fee.

Bite the bullet, guys. Bank to make a living, not to rake off huge profits for shareholders.

But it's a very strange game. As a protest, it can achieve limited aims. But as a movement, it could eventually result in a run on the banks (in the form of short-selling the worst affected institutions, or conceivably at the mass level,) accompanied by the very financial contagion we were so worried about in the first place.

For my part, I'm thinking "too big to fail" has to continue to be addressed by regulatory mechanisms... and if the gubmit doesn't act soon, we're looking at the possibility of the system being taken down by its own customers.

I know a lot of you guys think the sexier the gimmick, the better the outcome. I don't think that would be the case, if future "bank transfer days" take down the big boys.

Looks like the rage that the banks successfully redirected against the gubmit for the last couple years is finally turning toward its rightful target.

But I'm sure 600,000 customers will be painted as a "drop in the bucket."

Wonder what actual impact this will have when the markets open tomorrow... and if it's minor, I wonder whether this movement will just grow.

PFnV

PatriotsReign

I actually wish I could have participated in this movement. But since I have my money with a local co-operative bank, I didn't need to.

I've been with this bank since I was 18 years old. It's still in my hometown of Weymouth, MA which is 45 miles away.

4 years ago, I opened a second account with BoA. They charged me monthly fees of $25 for my account because I had less than $10k deposited with them, so I told them to gft's!

Now I feel good about that decision!

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"No one walking this earth knows what is truly righteous"

DarrylS

Read somewhere that this was successful, however will not know until 4th quarter stats are released.

Have always belonged to a credit union, until recently moved into a local bank.

Have had some dealing with FleetBank/BOFA and it has resulted in very mixed results..

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Nikolai

When I got back to the states, I started with First Union, which was bought by the larger Wachovia, which was bought by the even larger Wells Fargo. The quality of my service has gone down and the number of weird fees has gone up. I've been strongly considering a credit union for a while now.

To the OP's points, I see the reasons for concern, but real change is painful. The alternative to change might be even more painful. It seems to me it's a pick your poison sort of thing...

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PatriotsReign

One more note is that I truly this particular movement continues and I don't care about the consequences as long as we never again bail out big banks.

I honestly HATE our financial institutions due to the fact they now believe it is a privilage to put our money in their banks. Even though it's the other way around in reality.

Many years ago, when I first joined this site, I used to say we should re-name our country to

The United States of America, Inc.

And that's a damn shame!

__________________
"No one walking this earth knows what is truly righteous"

PatsFanInVa

PR, in the 1980s I worked on a humor piece for an "insider" type Washington newspaper. This was at the height of the first wave of "privatize everything the government does" hysteria. We had an org chart of "USGovCo" -- changing to serve you better, and all that -- catchy private-sectory sounding names for all the departments, etc.

Just to say, this has been a march of folly since at least that time. You can't do a take-off unless it can resonate at at least an "opinion leader" level, if not a mass level... so even doing that piece was in reaction to something that had matured enough that you could point it out in the national discourse.

It's been a matter of "contracting it all out" for some time, to the point where in the last decade (after making the support personnel private sector workers,) we started using mercenaries in our war-fighting.

That's the fast track to national deterioration. The Founding Fathers wrote specifically of the need for a strong federal government... as an institution in its own right, not beholden to the private sector or any other interest but the public's.

The really radical turn in the "Reagan Revolution" (and all that came after,) is the proposition that your own government is by its nature your enemy, and must be shrunk at every turn (however big or small it is, it's too big, in every instance.)

I say make it function. I think we agree in this. If Wall Street is being regulated, don't have this hodge-podge of regulators with weak power, out of which each bank can pick the one they like the best.

We're at a point where we need simple and stricter rules for our financial sector. It's not the case that they have our interests at heart, or that the sum total of their activity will redound magically to everyone's benefit.

There never was any reason to believe that it would work out that way, but we told ourselves fairy tales to that effect for 30 years.

Nikolai, you know me, I'm our local "moderate." I always love the idea that collectively we'll identify the problem, we'll get the smartest guys in the room to fix it, they'll be pristine and above corruption, we'll make wise policy, people will see through ad blitzes by the moneyed interests, and we'll reward the policy makers who figure out and fix the abuses.

In other words, I'm a naive pie-in-the-sky moderate.

Like you say, change might have to be painful; you might end up two steps forward with a step back stuck in the middle.

You might have to take the chance of a crippling blow to the financial system to rebalance it. You might even have to undo the work to save the financial sector to establish a different basis of financial activity.

If the latter, however, we do invite global depression. Hey, worse things have happened.

At a certain point, people start feeling like "eff it, let's roll the dice."

I'm thinking we want to stop short of that -- but (see above) -- I might be deluded in holding this opinion.

PFnV

DarrylS

Texas Reporting, sounds like a movement.....


Read more: Tens of Thousands Flow Into Texas Credit Unions - PR Newswire - sacbee.com

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

BSR

I don't know what you people are talking about. BofA is fantastic. Full integration with quicken, ATMs on practically every corner, check scanning, best of class on-line services and mobile apps. Its a fantastic state of the art bank. Fees? Only if you sign up for the wrong type of account. I don't get all the hate.

IcyPatriot

Not a bad idea ... however most prudent people should be doing this anyways. I have been moving my banking business around for as long as I can remember. Lowest checking fee, lowest credit card rates, less fees overall, etc ... and everyone should be doing this. Not sure how much it helps but at least it gives one the sense of making them compete for your money.

One more thing ... I think would help is for people to return to using cash as much as possible. I do not own a debit card and I do not want one. I have a no balance Amex and a no balance Visa with me at all times. Greater security and no fees. Those ATM's that charge people fees are a joke and waste of $$$ IMO.

DarrylS

I get around debit card fees by only using ATM machines that are owned by my bank..

I have no fee online checking and banking, never send out checks anymore.. it is a service of my bank. All I have to do is maintain a minimum balance.

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.