23-10-2011, 06:16 AM
Bank Transfer Day: Technologists Say Thousands Already Switching
October 22nd, 2011Via: CU Times:While Bank Transfer Day, and the dump-your-bank sentiment that serves as its backdrop, has earned a lot of media coverage and promotional dollars among credit unions, are people really switching?
The folks whose job it is to facilitate that move behind the scenes, who manage the so-called "switch kits" of electronic banking, say it's so.
Several big credit unions and the vendors who supply their technology told Credit Union Times this week they have seen a surge of new memberships that began when Bank of America declared its $5 a month debit fee in late September.
"We've more than doubled our usual rate of membership growth in the past 17 or 18 days," said Howie Wu, vice president of virtual banking at the $9.5 billion, 700,000-member BECU in Tukwila, Wash.
"We usually average about 6,000 to 7,000 new members a month, but from the date of Bank of America's announcement to today, we've totaled 10,400 new members," Wu said Thursday.
A half a nation away, "We're on track to open more accounts in one month than we ever have before," said Mary O'Rourke, vice president of electronic services at the $4.4 billion, 357,000-member Randolph-Brooks FCU in Live Oak, Texas.
Several major and regional banks already had begun raising fees in anticipation of losing income to the new interchange cap, but it seems to be Bank of America's move that set the stage for a Facebook post by a Los Angeles art dealer to go viral and launch the ad hoc, anti-bank holiday that debuts Nov. 5.
Posted in Economy
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