From: Democracy Now
November 09, 2011
Bank Transfer Day: Kristen Christian on How She Inspired Mass Exodus from Big Banks to Credit Unions
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/9/bank_transfer_day_kristen_christian_on
Protests were held across the country Saturday to mark Bank Transfer Day, a campaign to move accounts from big banks into community banks or credit unions. Credit unions attracted more than 40,000 new account holders, reporting about $80 million in new savings, or an average of about $2,000 per new account holder. The campaign was organized by Kristen Christian when she learned that Bank of America planned to charge her a $5 monthly debit card fee. Her Facebook post urging friends to abandon big banks unwittingly blossomed into a national campaign. Although the campaign was neither inspired by nor organized by the cyber-activist group Anonymous or the Occupy Wall Street movement, it did benefit from their support. "The message from Bank Transfer Day was not the fee itself, but actually the principle behind it, because, at least with Bank of America, the fee only applied to account holders with less than $20,000 in combined accounts. So, based on principle, I couldn't support a business that would directly target the impoverished and working class," Christian says. [includes rush transcript]
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Protests were held across the country Saturday to mark Bank Transfer Day, a campaign to move accounts from big banks into community banks or credit unions. Credit unions attracted more than 40,000 new account holders, reporting about $80 million in new savings, or an average of about $2,000 per new account holder.
The campaign was organized by Kristen Christian when she learned that Bank of America planned to charge her a $5 monthly debit card fee. Christian's Facebook post, urging friends to abandon big banks, unwittingly blossomed into a national campaign. More than 75,000 people pledged to participate in Bank Transfer Day.
Although the campaign was neither inspired by nor organized by the cyber-activist group Anonymous or the Occupy Wall Street movement, it did benefit from their support. In this ad, Anonymous explained how to participate in Bank Transfer Day. ANONYMOUS AD: If the 99 percent removes our funds from the major banking institutions to nonprofit credit unions on or by the 5th of November, we will send a clear message to the 1 percent that conscious consumers won't support companies with unethical business practices. One, open an account with a credit union. Two, transfer your funds to the new account on or before 11/05. Three, follow your bank's procedures to close your account. To find a credit union near you, click here. For more information, visit the official Facebook page.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, after Bank Transfer Day, local news outlets around the country reported that fed-up customers acted on their promise to take their business away from big banks, sometimes in conjunction with the Occupy Wall Street protests. Philadelphia Inquirer told the story of a couple inspired by the protests who switched from Bank of America to a community bank, and news channel KGW out of Portland, Oregon, also interviewed fed-up customers who moved their money from big banks. The Denver Post said more than a thousand protesters marched from bank to bank and urged customers there to close their accounts, while the Colorado Independent reported that local credit unions have acquired $100 million in new deposits within the past month.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/9/bank_transfer_day_kristen_christian_on
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The truth behind Khadafi's deathby dziria8887,662 views
Nermeen Shaikh is an intelligent and well spoken journalist...she's also an amazingly beautiful woman.
LooMinn 1 week ago
I participated in the bank transfer idea, and Bank of America lied to me saying my account was closed. Three weeks later I received a new debit card from them! I recommend every person who closed their BoA account goes back to make 100% sure their accounts were actually closed. See my newest video to hear the conversation I had with a banking associate last week, when I asked why my account was re-opened. She didn't seem to have any record of the fact that I went in and closed the account.
SoTweetie 2 months ago
She stood up for a correct cause, but unfortunately she's an idiot. Moronically putting down the Occupy movement, while supporting its directive. "I'm a passive person," she should have said, "I'm an ignoramus on most of the issues."
AGenericGuy 3 months ago
YOU'RE THE VOICE OF AMERICA!
Keep up the good work - keep posting videos. The unemployment rate is getting worse increasing the number of protesters and Washington is clearly refusing to take action. U6 unemployment: 23% - 1930 U6 unemployment 25%.
- 2011 College class: 20.4 Million
- 2011 Newly created jobs: 1 Million
OCCUPY WALL STREET IS GETTING ATTENTION AND IT WILL ONLY GROW
Click “CECOAdvocate” For LiveLeak News
CECOAdvocate 3 months ago