Anger Over Wall Street Prompting Renewed Interest in Credit Unions

The Occupy Wall Street movement is gaining momentum in the North Bay, with a big rally planned at Santa Rosa’s City Hall on Saturday, a chance to voice anger about the ongoing financial crisis, increased bank fees as well as more bread and butter issues like ongoing cuts in education and government services and high unemployment.

There has also been a lot of chatter on Facebook about a similar event in Petaluma, with the on Kentucky Street and East Washington suggested as a possible location, but so far no actions have been organized. Bank of America announced in September that it will soon start charging a $5 monthly fee for debit cards following the passage of the Dodd-Frank regulations that reduced how much banks would make from each debit card transaction.

Over the past month, more than 1,000 protests have been held in cities all over the country (and world) as students, unions and average folks gathered to criticize banking practices which they say have left a wake of destruction, causing foreclosures, a taxpayer-funded bailout, the biggest recession since 1928 and sky-high unemployment.

The anger is also spurring some North Bay residents to take their money out of big banks and put it into credit unions, which often have no monthly checking fees and no debit card fees. In fact, local credit unions are reporting a growing interest and say they’ve received a lot of new customers in the past several weeks.

“The malfeasance, the bad loans, the bailouts, it didn’t seem to get people mad,” said David Williams, a spokesman at Community First Credit Union, based in Santa Rosa. “But now with the $5 a month, people feel like “Now you’re really pushing me. It’s a tipping point.”

When customers call Community First's main number, they are greeted with a cheerful phone message that informs them that "unlike at big banks, we offer free checking and won't charge you a $5 monthly fee to use your debit card."

“We’re banking on the fact that the new fees are going to be a real eye opener for people,” said Williams. “People tend to think that big must be more convenient, but that’s not true.”

Like many other credit unions, Community First is part of the Co-Op Network, a national network of ATMs that accept debit cards issued by the credit union without charging a fee. In fact, the credit union has a bigger network of ATMs than Bank of America, according to Williams.

The results are similar at Redwood Credit Union, which has more than a dozen branches in Sonoma County, where over the past week 150 customers have migrated over from big banks.

"People are frustrated with the new fees and there's a lot of interest right now in banking with community organizations that have the best interests of the community at heart," said Robin McKenzie, a spokeswoman for Redwood Credit Union. "Banks have a profit model, but because we are nonprofit, whatever we earn we return to our customers in the form of better rates and free checking and debit cards."

Where do you bank? Are you considering moving your money to a credit union? Share your thoughts with us.