[PAA-Discuss] ‘Bank Transfer Day’ Causes Credit Union Buzz

Tue Oct 11 16:36:22 EDT 2011

Anne - I am so sorry to hear that you are not well. You are in my
thoughts! 

I have actually looked into these issues myself, not Working
Assets in particular, but of other organizations. 

Unfortunately, as I
understand (someone correct me if you think I'm wrong!!), credit unions
are nonprofit institutions. Income they earn is either distributed to
its members in the form of dividends or typically used to provide
products / services at a lower rate than banks. Credit unions also do
not have to pay income taxes.  

As a result of this, they are limited
by regulation to the kinds of business loans they can make [reference
this article:
http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/10/credit_unions_emerge_as_viable_alternatives
]. They also cannot provide venture capital to for-profit businesses,
etc. 

Community Banks present a different option. They are for profit,
but oftentimes serve a "community" and as such are smaller and more
customer oriented. They are typically locally, independently owned.
Community banks channel most of their loans to the neighborhoods where
their depositors live and work [ reference see:
http://www.icba.org/files/ICBASites/PDFs/cbfacts.pdf ] 

My thought
would be that Working Assets may have such a large base distribution,
that it may make it impractical or impossible for them to do business
other than than the big banks. I'm not excusing them, I'm just
saying....  

I don't know if it's true that all credit cards are issued
by the big banks - if I come across that info, I'll let you know.

Below is a very interesting article about "Everything you wanted to
know about Credit Cards". Like... did you KNOW that Visa is a NON-PROFIT
institution? According to this article, it is.

http://euro.ecom.cmu.edu/resources/elibrary/everycc.htm 

Sarah 

On
Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:10:28 -0500, Anne del Prado wrote: 

> What can we
do about "Working Assets", they use BofA for their credit card service.
Years ago, I had called them on it, they said that they were
> forced
(economically) to do so. Probably many PAA-ers support them by using
their credit card and their CREDO cell phones. 
> Unfortunately, I
cannot spearhead anything (chemo treatment, very weak), but if people
decide to call them on it, I'm willing to threat to -- and if necessary
-- get out of our CREDO contract and cut up the working assets credit
card.
> Anne
> 
> -------------------------
> Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011
12:32:29 -0400
> From: slindahl at rounder-graphics.com
> To:
discuss at paa-tx.org
> Subject: [PAA-Discuss] 'Bank Transfer Day' Causes
Credit Union Buzz
> 
> Hit em where it hurts! If you're still entrusting
your $ to Bank of America, Chase and the other fraudsters, it's time to
MOVE YOUR MONEY!
> In case you're not aware of the significance of
"remember, remember, the 5th of November" - it's Guy Fawkes' day. 
>
http://www.bonfirenight.net/gunpowder.php
> and on a serious note, if
you've never seen Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving in V for Vendetta
(2006) - it's simply a must. 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/
>

> 'BANK TRANSFER DAY' CAUSES CREDIT UNION BUZZ
> 
>
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/10-9
> 
> Published on
Monday, October 10, 2011 by Credit Union Times [1] 
> by Jim Rubenstein

> 
> Even with most credit unions closed for Columbus Day there was
plenty of online buzz, and uncertainty, about what the credit union
industry role might be on "Bank Transfer Day," the latest event
surfacing from the "Occupy Wall Street" protests.
> Industry sources,
speaking off the record, suggested any wholesale switch from large banks
to CUs on Nov. 5, the day designated by one Californian and carried
atwitter Monday, could conceivably put net worth ratios out of whack. 
>
The balance sheet problem was raised by several industry officials as a
potential hazard as online articles focused on what "Occupy" supporters
are calling now for a specific action to underscore their complaints
against big banks and corporate "greed."
> For the record, Mark Wolff,
CUNA senior vice president-communications, said only that the trade
group welcomes the idea of "a viral 'Bank Transfer Day'" since it shows
"just how angry consumers are becoming with their treatment by big
banks" and will now look at CUs.
> CUNA said its Facebook posts have
already witnessed big jumps in traffic on www.asmarterhoice.org [2].
There also have been big gains on www.findacreditunion.org [3].
> Many
consumers, said CUNA, are already "discovering" credit unions online and
"many more no doubt will as a result of this Bank Transfer Day
initiative."
> Wire service reports Monday identified the ringleader of
"Bank Transfer Day" as Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old Los Angeles art
gallery owner who said she is not affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street
protest, but that demonstration organizers had reached out to her to
express support.
> Christian reportedly chose Nov. 5 because of its
association with 17th century British folk hero Guy Fawkes, who tried to
blow up the British House of Lords but was captured on that day.
> A for
the event states that ""together we can ensure that these banking
institutions will ALWAYS remember the 5th of November!! If the 99%
removes our funds from the major banking institutions on or by this
date, we will send a clear message and give the 1% a taste of the fear
that we experience every day when we aren't able to pay for our rent,
food, medication, utilities, student loans, etc."
> The protests began
in New York and have popped up around the country. A few hundred
protesters gathered in Las Vegas, for instance, on Thursday night and
were escorted by police for a march down the Strip. Among the calls for
action on the flyers being distributed was to move banking accounts to
credit unions. 
> (c) 2011 Credit Union Times 
> 
> ---------------
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Links:
------
[1]
http://www.cutimes.com/2011/10/10/bank-transfer-day-causes-cu-buzz
[2]
http://www.asmarterhoice.org/
[3] http://www.findacreditunion.org/
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