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

Tue Oct 11 17:58:50 EDT 2011

I encourage everyone to get their money completely out of big banks, although small locally-owned banks might be OK.   Credit Unions are an even better choice.

Lee, you are probably right that credit unions will require you to have a personal account before you can open a business account.  But I've opened two business checking accounts at my credit union (where Cheryl and I have checking and savings accounts) -- one for the small consulting business that Cheryl and I have (Crosier Biomed) - did that a number of years ago, and another for the Progressive Action Alliance - we moved the (small) checking account from the PAA account at Chase early this year when they were about to start charging a monthly service charge.  The only fees we've paid for that is to get checks printed.

If you want a credit union account for Houston Peace News, you'll need to register HPN as a business with the County Clerk under your name, if you haven't already, and take the original of the stamped form you get there, with you to your credit union to open an account.  If you have it in more than one person's name, they may want you to open a personal joint account at the CU, but I'm not sure about that.

Most Credit Unions have a very small minimum balance, have lower fees, and are generally very pro-customer.  After all, their customers own the CU.  Cheryl and I dumped our bank for personal savings and checking over 30 years ago and have been very happy with our CU.  It's the JSC Federal Credit Union, which is one of the largest and also has a number of branches.  We have a VISA card from them, and we also got our house mortgage there when we refinanced a number of years back.    And they also offer debit cards, which we didn't get because credit cards offer more protections to consumers.  We do have no-fee ATM cards from them, but don't use them much.

As an example of how you can save on fees:  We have our checking account set to automatically transfer funds from a line of credit we have at our CU in case of an overdraft on our checking, and there's no fee at all for that (other than interest on the line of credit, which is generally less than a dollar if we don't wait too long to transfer funds back into our checking account).  That eliminates overdraft and bounced check fees completely.  Try to get that with a bank!

We also belong to a smaller CU that's in our neighborhood, and got a car loan through them once.  They are closer and more convenient if we need to get something notarized, etc.

Bill

At 3:40 PM -0500 10/11/11, Lee Loe wrote:
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>As I explained earlier, PrimeWay, our credit card Credit Union, doesn't take businesses. They suggested several credit unions which I called and then called more. Not one took a business unless you, as an individual had an account with them or took one out, or worked for a company which had one with them. I think one would have taken us if we had $5000 to deposit. Anyway, that, of course is what I wanted in the first place. A local bank was my second choice. The Texas Community Bank does not charge us anything because we cash so few checks, etc., another good thing. By the way, if any of you are due to resub to HPN or want to contribute, we need $$$.  Send checks to Houston Peace News, PO Box 541360, Houston TX 77254. (o; ~ Lee
> 
>From: crkeene at juno.com [mailto:crkeene at juno.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 2:22 PM
>To: LeeLoe at igc.org
>Cc: zappa2004 at earthlink.net; freespirit_41 at hotmail.com; discuss at paa-tx.org
>Subject: Re: [PAA-Discuss] 'Bank Transfer Day' Causes Credit Union Buzz
> 
>Wouldn't HPN do just fine at a credit union?
>
>---------- Original Message ----------
>From: "Lee Loe" <LeeLoe at igc.org>
>To: <zappa2004 at earthlink.net>, "'Anne del Prado'" <freespirit_41 at hotmail.com>, "'paa'" <discuss at paa-tx.org>
>Subject: Re: [PAA-Discuss] 'Bank Transfer Day' Causes Credit Union Buzz
>Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:20:05 -0500
>OH, and I checked the Green Bank when looking for someplace to transfer the HPN Chase account, and the Green Bank is one of the Koch Brothers' properties!! Lee
> 
>From: discuss-bounces at paa-tx.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at paa-tx.org] On Behalf Of zappa
>Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:42 PM
>To: 'Anne del Prado'; paa
>Subject: Re: [PAA-Discuss] 'Bank Transfer Day' Causes Credit Union Buzz
> 
>There aren't any small bank credit cards are there?  If you have a credit card at all isn't it either BOM, Chase, or citi?  Just wondered if there is another choice.  Thanks.
> 
>From: discuss-bounces at paa-tx.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at paa-tx.org] On Behalf Of Anne del Prado
>Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 12:10 PM
>To: Sarah Gonzales; PAA DiscussHouston; Greg
>Subject: Re: [PAA-Discuss] 'Bank Transfer Day' Causes Credit Union Buzz
> 
>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 <http://www.cutimes.com/2011/10/10/bank-transfer-day-causes-cu-buzz>Credit Union Times
>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 <http://www.asmarterhoice.org/>www.asmarterhoice.org. There also have been big gains on <http://www.findacreditunion.org/>www.findacreditunion.org.
>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 <http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=281139538577206>Facebook page 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.
>© 2011 Credit Union Times
> 

-- 
Bill Crosier
paa at crosierbiomed.com      713-641-4941
Progressive Action Alliance   http://progressiveactionalliance.org/
KPFT - 90.1 FM Houston - The antidote to corporate media  http://kpft.org