A lot of people and businesses are fed up with the big banks, some more than others. The Twilight Exit, a bar and restaurant in Seattle, Wash., may take the cake. They are offering free dinner to any customer who brings in a proof that they closed their account at Chase after July 13. From their Facebook page:
CHASE BANK is corrupt. Bring in proof that you closed your Chase bank account anytime after July 13th and THE TWILIGHT EXIT WILL BUY YOU DINNER. No kidding. Chase sucks that bad.
The Seattle Times explains:
For 10 years, Mollmann, 39, has owned a bar in Seattle’s Central Area. In frustration last week he decided to use it to nip at the heels of a banking colossus.
“July is freedom month in America,” he announced, “so free yourself from Chase!”
At his Cherry Street bar, The Twilight Exit, Mollmann started a sort of reverse toaster-giveaway: He’ll buy anyone a free dinner who quits JPMorgan Chase Bank. Show him proof you canceled your account at the bank, and the steak, fried chicken or bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin is on him.
So not only will you be rewarded with fewer fees and the knowledge that you’re helping your community, moving your money might also get you a free dinner. Not a bad deal.
New York City has already showed its support of local financial institutions by putting up to $25 million of municipal tax dollars into local credit unions, and now it is teaming up with six major unions to pressure the biggest banks to work harder to prevent foreclosures. City comptroller John C. Liu and the presidents of the United Federation of Teachers, the Transport Workers Union and the Motel Trades Council, among others, are sending a letter to the major banks to demand a change. If the group isn’t satisfied with the response, they will move their money. The New York Times reports:
Mr. Liu said the group would send Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, among others, a letter that criticizes them for dragging their feet on modifying mortgages that are underwater or delinquent, and that urges them to do “everything possible” to avert foreclosures.
Depending on the response the coalition members get, they might move pension funds and bank deposits to other institutions, according to union officials.
[...]Their letter criticizes the banks for “unanswered phone calls, delays in the modification process and multiple requests for homeowners to resend paperwork already submitted.”
“Banks like you can do more,” the comptroller and union presidents write.
Earlier this year the city of Los Angeles passed a measure to end business with banks that do not meet specific standards of foreclosure habits and small lending, among other practices. Will New York be next?
While there are many features of Congress’s new financial reform legislation that will help avert future crises and protect consumers, there are also a lot of loopholes to let the big banks exploit some customers — especially the poor. Many major banks are pushing new fees onto the consumers to cover their profit margins, which makes it harder for low-income Americans to maintain a bank account and keep track of their finances. But while the megabanks exploit and drive out the poor, we need to encourage credit unions and community banks to be there with open arms and fair policies. Financial guru Don McNay explains:
I’m hoping that two things will happen.
First is that people keep moving their money from “too big to fail” giants to community banks and credit unions.
Second is that the community banks and credit unions have an open door to the segment of society that the big banks are running off.
Being fair to your customers is a great marketing opportunity for community banks and credit unions.
Everyone knows that the Wall Street banks have not played fair. If you need further proof, call Citibank and try to speak to a “customer service” representative.
Making money with small depositors is hard work. But it can be profitable.
Help encourage fair banking policies from institutions that work to help communities prosper, instead of helping Wall Street bankers get rich. Move your money to local financial institutions.
Financial reform legislation will soon be passed into law, but unfortunately Congress’s version of reform falls short in a lot of areas. There is work still to do to rein in the “Too Big To Fail” banks, limit some of their casino-style bets and create a broader, more stable financial system. While Congress may well rewrite the rules again to further protect us from the big banks, we can’t wait; it’s up to us to us to act on our own. Stacy Mitchell, of the New Rules Project’s Community Banking Initiative, explains what we can do:
The economic crisis is not over, and the rot and malfunctioning at the heart of our banking system remains. Indeed, since the collapse, giant banks have only grown bigger and more powerful, and less responsive to the needs of the real economy. While the financial reform bill includes several worthwhile measures, it will not set the industry right or entail a fundamental alteration of its scale and structure.
[...]What would a banking system truly aligned with the interests of households and businesses look like? For one, it would be composed primarily of small, locally owned banks and credit unions. Unlike big banks, local financial institutions devote nearly all of their resources to core banking activities, namely taking deposits and making loans. Their fortunes are thus inextricably linked to the well-being of their depositors and borrowers. They prosper only when their communities do.
[...]The best way to spur Congress to act, however, isn’t to wait around for it to do so. We can and should take financial reform into our own hands.
That means moving our money — and not just our savings, but our borrowing too. Tens of thousands of people have already broken up with big banks and moved to locally owned institutions. Although the cascade has not yet been large enough to make a sizable dent in the finances of big banks, it has already been a boon to many small banks and credit unions, which are seeing a surge in deposits and lending.
Aside from moving our personal accounts, we can also move big money at our offices, schools and places of worship. We should also encourage our state and city governments to act and enforce regulation to protect their citizens. Lastly, some activists are working towards a state-owned “banker’s bank” like the Bank of North Dakota, which helps smaller banks finance large projects and offers cheap loans and has been thriving during the financial crisis.
We’re working with the political group Democracy For America to reach out to their members and local political parties to urge local banking. So far DFA members have pledged to move over than $450 Million from the Wall Street megabanks.
We’ve teamed up with the Responsible Endowments Coalition to target college campuses. We aim to move school endowment funds (which often reach into the millions) as well as students’ personal accounts to local, sustainable financial institutions.
When you think of your tax dollars at work, you probably think of police officers and school teachers, right? How about baseball fields? That’s what Citi is doing with hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer bailout funds, at least. Financial columnist Dan McNay explains:
Citigroup is paying $400 million ($20 million for $20 years) for the ego boost of having a stadium named after it.
Since Citigroup received billions in bailout money, the American taxpayers are footing the naming rights tab.
[...]All of America’s taxpayers, many who will never visit New York in their lives, came up with $400 million of the money for the stadium naming rights. Citigroup would not have had $400 million to throw around unless the American people “lent” it to them.
Every time we see bailout money being spent on corporate ego boosts or bonuses like the kind that Goldman Sachs gave themselves, it kicks the American people in the face.
Tired of supporting banks that use your money for their own gain? Then stop. Put your money in community banks and credit unions that go to bat for their communities.
The big banks aren’t lending. Not to small businesses and not to individuals — even those exceeding worthy of the loan. Management consultant Charles H Green tells the story of one high-earning customer, “Jane,” with excellent credit who had to jump through hoops to try and get a construction loan approved by a major bank. After months of redundant and inane questioning about years-old account history, she realized they were never going to approve the loan, no matter what she did.
At that point I realized I was never going to get a loan from the mortgage giant Wells Fargo, nor are they seeking ideal customers who pay their loans. Happily, our architect is talented and trustworthy and our contractor is honest and hard-working. Those business relationships have been highly professional and free of impediments. We can finance our second home without paying Wells Fargo $50,000 for the privilege of lending us money. But if I can’t get a loan, who can?
No wonder we have a credit crisis in this country!
Arianna Huffington, one of the minds behind the Move Your Money project, went on CNN’s John King USA to explain the Move Your Money campaign to host Jessica Yellin. “The goal is to give people an opportunity without waiting for government to act,” she said, “We’ve been waiting for government to end ‘Too Big To Fail’ banks. It’s not going to happen, even with the new financial regulation bill. Here is an opportunity for people to move their money from the big banks into community banks, credit unions.” What’s more, when you move to a local bank or credit union, “You’re both supporting yourself and your family, and you’re also supporting your community.”
In the first three months of our campaign, an estimated $5 billion was moved to local banks and credit unions away from the country’s four biggest banks. More people are moving their money every day. Find a community bank or credit union and choose to invest in your home town, not “Too Big To Fail.”
You can divest from the “Too Big To Fail” banks by moving your bank accounts and taking out new loans at local community banks and credit unions, but you’re not the only one doing their part. A major mutual fund has decided it will no longer invest in the nation’s biggest banks, just like it does not invest in other companies it deems dangerous and socially irresponsible. The Huffington Post reports:
A top-ranked mutual fund will no longer invest in “Too Big To Fail” banks, announcing Thursday it would extend a prohibition already in place against tobacco firms and pornography distributors to banks like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group.
In its release Appleseed Fund, a self-described socially-responsible fund that was created in 2006, said that Too Big To Fail (TBTF) banks are also “too big to own.” The TBTF firms are now treated by the fund like those that “derive substantial revenues from the tobacco, alcohol, pornography, gambling, or weapons industries,” according to the fund’s filings.
It is the first mutual fund to explicitly state that it will not invest in TBTF banks, the $140 million fund said in its announcement.
The fund also refuses to invest in major tobacco and alcohol companies, but the decision to divest from Wall Street was motivated as much by the excess of greed as the inherent risks. In a statement, co-portfolio manager Adam Strauss explained: “For these banks to be as unhealthy as they are, for them to be paying out the kind of compensation that they’re paying, seems to us to be irresponsible. And, at the same time, there are risks they’re taking with their balance sheet, and if those risks go wrong the American public is on the hook for them.” Instead, the fund will invest in small and medium-sized banks and credit unions.
Want to move your investments away from the big banks? Check with your financial advisor to see what your options are and what works for your portfolio. Investing can be complicated, but there are many alternatives that are safe, healthy and financially sustainable. Explore sources like the Social Investment Forum or Social(k).
Not sure why you should keep your money local? It’s simple, as this video from California’s Sonoma County GoLocal Cooperative explains. Using local banks and credit unions keeps money circulating in your community at least three times as long as it would otherwise. As director Kelley Rajala says, “If we can shift our spending and our savings to our local institutions, then we can start supporting ourselves.”
A lot of people and businesses are fed up with the big banks, some more than others. The Twilight Exit, a bar and restaurant in Seattle, Wash., may take the cake. They are offering free dinner to any customer who brings in a proof that they closed their account at Chase after July 13. From their Facebook page:
I’m hoping that two things will happen.
At that point I realized I was never going to get a loan from the mortgage giant Wells Fargo, nor are they seeking ideal customers who pay their loans. Happily, our architect is talented and trustworthy and our contractor is honest and hard-working. Those business relationships have been highly professional and free of impediments. We can finance our second home without paying Wells Fargo $50,000 for the privilege of lending us money. But if I can’t get a loan, who can?
Subscribe to our RSS feed
