Fee Increase Attempt Inspires 'Dump Your Bank Day'

suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from CNN Money: "Customers are dumping their banks in droves ahead of the nationwide 'Move Your Money' and 'Bank Transfer Day' movements this Saturday. Given the recent spotlight on attempts — and ultimate failures — by some of the nation's biggest banks to tack on new debit card fees, thousands of disgruntled consumers have already either left or pledged to leave their current bank for a community bank or credit union, which are known for having fewer and/or lower bank account fees. ... At least 650,000 consumers have already joined credit unions since Sept. 29, the day Bank of America announced plans to impose its controversial $5 debit card fee, according to a nationwide survey of credit unions by the Credit Union National Association."

Are the sheep finally waking?

[KaLeVR1]

I last had a B of A account when I was 19. They had the highest credit card rates of any major bank in the country. I shopped around for a day and found a bank with an interest rate 7 points lower than theirs. I moved accounts and a few years later found a credit union with a rate 3 pts lower than the new bank. So I cut my rate from 19.8 to 9.9 just by not being too lazy to shop around. For some reason however, 19 out of 20 people I tell this story to have ump-teen superficial reasons why switching banks would be too much trouble. The truth of it is, they are complacent and lazy.

There shouldn't be even a single person complaining about the bank bailouts or Wall Street who still has an account with these money pimps. If you do business with them, you are an enabler and partially responsible for the bank meltdown of '08.

Re:welcome the new bank

[Hardhead_7]

Says someone who has clearly never belonged to a credit union.

Re:Thinking about "switching"

[Cephas Aurelius]

This is an important sentimentality to reflect on. Banks and other businesses count on emotion and habit to keep our business even when their quality suffers. Does the BofA you see today reflect the values of Seafirst? Would your parents still recommend that you do business there? If you are feeling sentimental, frame your debit card after you close the account.

Re:Are the sheep finally waking?

[Arlet]

I pay 0% on my credit cards. The credit card bills are automatically taken out of my checking account at the end of the month.

I'm probably not the only one

[denshao2]

I had heard of credit unions before, but I didn't know what they were and I didn't have sufficient interest to find out. I only researched it after this Bank of America incident. Now that I know, it's obvious to me that a credit union is better.

Re:I did

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I don't think that anybody has ever actually "joined" Bank of America, it's just that the probability that you become a customer by acquisition of your prior bank approaches 1 at around a decade or so...

Re:I'm probably not the only one

[Phoobarnvaz]

I had heard of credit unions before, but I didn't know what they were and I didn't have sufficient interest to find out. I only researched it after this Bank of America incident. Now that I know, it's obvious to me that a credit union is better.

Love credit unions...but beware of any financial institution. The reason is that I had my account at a small county credit union in NW Arizona which had worse fees and customer service than any of the big banks. Found out after I relocated to another state and another credit union that their balance sheets looked like something out of a slasher movie with so much red ink with about 40%+ default rate on their loans/mortgages. With my current statewide credit union...they had around a three per-cent default rate on their loans/mortgages with more than triple the amount of branches all over the state.. Seeing this...I understand why they charged arbitrary fees and were more than willing to make sure they would do a B of A any chance they could get.

Understand that any financial institution can screw you royally...but at least most credit unions will treat you better than most banks. Just do your research beforehand. If you can't get the answers you want...there are plenty of other credit unions who will be more than happy to help you.

Re:Are the sheep finally waking?

[timeOday]

I think the main reason people stick with banks that charge lots of fees is because the fees are designed to flatter the ego. Instead of upfront fees, they tend to charge penalties for irresponsible behavior. People tell themselves, "I'll always pay the card off each month. I would never make a late payment or overdraft. I'll get bonus miles paid for by all the other losers who bank here!" Everybody thinks this. And yet, somehow, the banks keep raking in billions of dollars. It's almost as if people aren't as responsible as they thought they were!

Missing Information

[RobNich]

1. Federal government passes law that banks with over $10b in assets may not charge merchants as much as all banks have been charging for debit transactions.
2. Larger banks (the only ones affected by said law) impose a monthly, instead of per-transaction, fee to make up the difference, while smaller banks continue to charge merchants the same amount they were before.
3. Outrage is expressed by the uninformed and pundits who have an axe to grind, such as Consumers Union.
4. Larger banks lose customers to smaller banks, who will continue to charge merchants the same amount for debit transactions.
5. Larger banks reverse position on monthly fee but increase other fees in order to indirectly make up the difference.

Who exactly won? Thanks Dick Durban!

Re:Missing Information

[sanjosanjo]

Who exactly won? Thanks Dick Durban!

I would say the consumers and small banks have won. Based on the 2008 financial mess, I think it's safe to say that having money distributed across many small banks is better than having to depend on the financial decisions of a few giant banks.

Re:Missing Information

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's think about this: A law that provides a means for smaller institutions to compete against the behemoths that have been driving smaller companies out of business. This same law will drive the country to more diversified banking environment by promoting people to utilize smaller institutions and thus provide an economy with a broader and more diverse foundation that can easily absorb the loss of 10 companies. And you're asking who the winners are?

The way I see it, the following are winners:
1. Small(er) businesses
3. Local communities that those smaller banks are run in for greater distribution of profits in the communities those smaller institutions have their headquarters in.
4. The good citizens of the united states for now having greater selection (real competition), and knowledge that if one of these smaller companies fail that their tax dollars won't be used to prop them up
5. those who rely on the us economy in any shape due to a larger breadth of institutions...pretty much the world at large.

I think the real question is who lost? The ginormous financial companies that demonstrated they can't be trusted in any shape or form. Those lazy complacent people who now have to shop around for a local bank with at least a tiny bit more integrity?

I agree with you on one thing: Thanks Dick Durbin!