Move your money campaign gaining momentum

Americans might feel a bit betrayed after bailing out corporate banks. After all, banks have only turned around to raise the interest rates on their credit cards, keep and keep slapping on the fees. As for the bank executives, they just keep getting bonuses and drinking champagne in their McMansions somewhere far removed from Main Street USA, where small businesses struggle to keep the lights burning in their humble store fronts. That’s why social media darling Arianna Huffington and Rob Johnson, director of the Economic Policy Initiative at the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, encouraged Americans to abandon their banks corporate banks to find a trustworthy community bank or even a credit union.

The subject came up again this morning on CBS’s “Sunday Morning,” spawning searches for MoveYourMoney.info, the campaign website backed by Huffington. But, really, all you have to do is go down to your local credit union or community bank and tell them you’re a refugee of one of those big, mean banks. Not everyone can get into a credit union, but sometimes a family member or friend can hook you up.

Daniel Mica, the president and chief executive officer of the Credit Union National Association, recently wrote in a column that membership in community banks and credit unions is rising. “For consumers, the move makes perfect sense. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives, and they’re owned by their members. They offer the same products and services banks do, but unlike banks, credit unions exist only to serve their members — not to generate profits for outside investors. Members typically experience that difference in the form of better rates and lower fees. In 2008 (the latest data we have available), consumers saved $9.2 billion by using credit unions rather than banks, or the equivalent of $104 per member and $198 per family. And that’s just on average. Loyal members — those who use credit unions extensively — often receive total financial benefits that are much greater than the average. But the issue goes beyond dollars and cents. In this turbulent economy, credit unions’ cooperative business model has renewed relevance for American consumers. Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) of the House Financial Services Committee has said if other financial institutions behaved liked credit unions and small community banks, the mortgage meltdown would never have happened.”

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