# How about this for a protest: Moving your money from a Bank to a Credit Union **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735 "2011-10-15T13:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/1 "2011-10-15T13:31:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The Move Your Money project is a nonprofit campaign that encourages individuals and institutions to divest from the nation’s largest Wall Street banks and move to local financial institutions. Little has changed to prevent another financial crisis or to end ‘Too Big To Fail,’ and with Congress unwilling to act, we are encouraging individuals to take power into their own hands by voting with their dollars and no longer contributing to a financial system that has led our country astray. We are a campaign that gives people real, concrete actions they can take to create a more sane, stable and localized banking system. [Excellent idea](http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/)! As much as I may support people demonstrating in the streets, I think large numbers of people moving their money away from banks and into Credit Unions will send an even stronger message. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/2 "2011-10-15T13:39:56Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > [Excellent idea](http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/)! As much as I may support people demonstrating in the streets, I think large numbers of people moving their money away from banks and into Credit Unions will send an even stronger message. Since it is corporate accounts that banks seem to treasure most, I’m not sure how much of an impact the moving of a small percentage of personal accounts would be. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/3 "2011-10-15T15:17:16Z")
What I’m hearing on the news is that people’s checking and savings accounts aren’t that important an income stream to banks, so the impact would be weak. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/4 "2011-10-15T15:34:35Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > [Excellent idea](http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/)! As much as I may support people demonstrating in the streets, I think large numbers of people moving their money away from banks and into Credit Unions will send an even stronger message. You’re assuming those “large numbers of people” have “large numbers of money.” Not to say this method isn’t effective, consider the meltdown at Netflix, they lost 600,000 clients in a single quarter after upping their fees. Bank of America will face a similar problem after instituting the $5 debit card fee. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/5 "2011-10-15T16:37:56Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > You’re assuming those “large numbers of people” have “large numbers of money.” > > Not to say this method isn’t effective, consider the meltdown at Netflix, they lost 600,000 clients in a single quarter after upping their fees. Bank of America will face a similar problem after instituting the $5 debit card fee. My wife worked at one of the largest banks in the world. To say that they are uninterested in the small dollar personal depositor would be an understatement. The only money they make off those accounts is in the fees (from the customer directly, or from the merchants where the debit card is used) The actual interest spread is not even enough to cover the costs on someone who maintains a balance of a few hundred dollars. It would be nice if people voted with their business though. Where we live there are half a dozen banks and credit unions with branches between our house and the nearest BofA branch. The “community bank” and credit union we have done business with over the last few years have been 1000X worse than BofA when it comes to basic competence and customer service. Their online banking really sucked, and support is non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/6 "2011-10-15T18:12:52Z")
Surely the point is that the small account holder is more likely to take loans and other services from the home bank, and that would also include mom and pop small business accounts too, so lose the small account, and in turn you lose other business ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/7 "2011-10-15T21:50:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Since it is corporate accounts that banks seem to treasure most, I’m not sure how much of an impact the moving of a small percentage of personal accounts would be. Not only would it not affect the banks but it would help them. It would also give them an excuse to fire more people because they don’t need them to deal with the crappy accounts. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/8 "2011-10-15T21:55:08Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > Surely the point is that the small account holder is more likely to take loans and other services from the home bank, and that would also include mom and pop small business accounts too, so lose the small account, and in turn you lose other business If you look at the service fees you’ll see that the banks don’t want the business. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/9 "2011-10-15T21:59:40Z")
Looks like the “Move Your Money” project has been around for almost 2 years now. Has it gained any traction? Also, I say no one gets gas this Tuesday that way the oil companies will go bankrupt! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/10 "2011-10-15T22:38:48Z")
Permanently moving your account is a bit different from buying gas on Friday instead of Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/11 "2011-10-15T23:10:49Z")
Non-intrest income is actually a very large part of a banks income. Almost 50% from the 2008 numbers I can find. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/12 "2011-10-15T23:39:17Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Non-intrest income is actually a very large part of a banks income. > > Almost 50% from the 2008 numbers I can find. Banks are drowning in money right now. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/13 "2011-10-15T23:55:42Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > My wife worked at one of the largest banks in the world. To say that they are uninterested in the small dollar personal depositor would be an understatement. Then why do they advertise for the business? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/14 "2011-10-16T00:01:12Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Looks like the “Move Your Money” project has been around for almost 2 years now. Has it gained any traction? If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, recent events have made it more likely that this idea will gain traction. Please don’t make me spell it out for you. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/15 "2011-10-16T00:05:30Z")
In 2010 BOA had $52.7 Billion in interest income and 58.7 Billion in fee and charges income. Even if you do not give a hoot about the issues moving to a credit union probably make financial sense Now that they have check and bill scanning ATMs everywhere most of the disadvantages of a credit union are gone. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/16 "2011-10-16T00:06:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then why do they advertise for the business? They don’t. At least in the United States, they don’t. They may very well be interested in consumer deposits in Europe, Latin America and Asia, but not in the US. They are trying to get out of the retail banking business, closing branches as fast as they can. State regulations make it quite difficult to do that, apparently. Basically they are interested in two kinds of business in the US, large commercial customers and issuing credit cards. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/17 "2011-10-16T00:07:57Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then why do they advertise for the business? Are there ads for small depositors? Their fee structures don’t favor small accounts at all. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/18 "2011-10-16T00:10:06Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > They don’t. At least in the United States, they don’t. They may very well be interested in consumer deposits in Europe, Latin America and Asia, but not in the US. They are trying to get out of the retail banking business, closing branches as fast as they can. State regulations make it quite difficult to do that, apparently. Basically they are interested in two kinds of business in the US, large commercial customers and issuing credit cards. I have 5 pieces of junk mail from this week in the recycling pile advertising checking, maybe you live in a state that restricts them? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/19 "2011-10-16T00:52:35Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > I have 5 pieces of junk mail from this week in the recycling pile advertising checking, maybe you live in a state that restricts them? I am talking about a particular giant global bank. I am pretty sure that what you are getting is not from this bank. Also, the mailings you are getting, if indeed they are from the giant banks, probably aren’t targeted to the small depositor. By small, I mean really small. Folks for whom maintaining a 500 minimum balance to avoid fees is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-about-this-for-a-protest-moving-your-money-from-a-bank-to-a-credit-union/599735/20 "2011-10-16T01:06:49Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I am talking about a particular giant global bank. I am pretty sure that what you are getting is not from this bank. Also, the mailings you are getting, if indeed they are from the giant banks, probably aren’t targeted to the small depositor. By small, I mean really small. Folks for whom maintaining a 500 minimum balance to avoid fees is a problem. One is from Bank of America claiming a $25 min deposit to get $100 “free”, another is from Chase offering $125 to open an account. Another is from Key, not as big but still not a small bank. None are addressed to me by name and I live in a neighborhood with lots of rentals. So which bank are you speaking of or is your data purely anecdotal? With these banks making half their income from bank fees I think they will take any customer they can.