Today is the (moderately) publicized Change Your Bank Day pushed by Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets. Why? Big banks and their ever increasing fees. Sure, the little guy (we, the consumer) no longer have to potentially shell out $3-5/month for the use of a debit card to take out money that we earned from our own bank accounts, but that isn't the point of this movement.
OccupyMainSt has read a lot of articles about this and only one really stood out as an interview to share. Strangely enough, it comes from Bankrate.com's Banking Blog. Nope, we don't understand it either, but upon further review, Bankrate.com is a comparison site. Makes a little more sense now.
In the
Angry Bank Clients to Switch Nov. 5 post, you can read an interview wtih Kristin Christian who started the movement:
There's a bank protest afoot that doesn't involve camping, picketing or being gawked at by the national media. It's called "Bank Transfer Day," and it's a social-media driven movement started by art gallery owner Kristin Christian. It aims to convince bank customers angered by new fees to move their money en masse to small banks or credit unions on Nov. 5.
The movement has largely been orchestrated through Facebook, where the page has nearly 24,000 likes and numerous comments left by supporters and critics alike. Christian herself has been careful to keep the movement nonpartisan and distance it from the Occupy Wall Street protests happening in metro areas all over the country.
Read the comments that follow. They're more interesting than the normal comments on a new article.
Do you plan to switch?
To be fair, not
all big banks are the Big Bad Wolf. But we can't find anyone who belongs to one of those. Then again, with the rate of takeovers and mergers, will there be any local banks/credit unions left?
as much as i hate bofa it's the only bank that my husband can get an account with because of his crappy credit and he has to have a bank account for work. what can i do?
ReplyDeleteWow, sierrasunshine, we're sorry to hear that! However, it does say at least one good thing about BofA (we suppose that is...)
ReplyDeleteThis article from eHow is the best one we could find that wasn't trying to sell you anything:
How to Get a Bank Account With Bad Credit History
http://www.ehow.com/how_4759768_bank-account-bad-credit-history.html
i appreciate you trying to help me by sharing that article with me but it's, ummm, not compatible with the way banks work (at least where i live) - it suggest to open a savings account which is kinda silly because if he can't open a regular checking account... it also recommends trying a credit union because they have more relaxed standards but in our experience it is exactly the opposite. i actually have an account with a credit union and they don't want anything to do with my husband! the crap he has in chexsystems is ancient history but it's still there, they're very unforgiving. ya, one good thing about bofa vs. (well, you know!) certainly not enough for redemption.
ReplyDeletewell keep us updated on what else we can boycott as a group, i'm usually happy to avoid products/services from companies undeserving of my business