2009
from
MoveYourMoneyProject Website
About
The Move Your Money project is a campaign that aims to empower individuals
and institutions to divest from the nation's largest Wall Street banks and
move to local financial institutions.
It has been almost three years since the Wall Street banks, through gross
corruption and greed, caused the greatest economic crisis since the Great
Depression that caused millions to lose their homes, jobs and livelihoods.
And while the Wall Street banks have quickly returned to making
record-breaking profits and bonuses, helped in large part by the $700
billion bailout by the American taxpayer, little has changed to prevent the
types of abuses that created this mess.
That is where the Move Your Money project comes into play.
We give
individuals and institutions the tools and resources they need to divest
from 'Too Big To Fail' banks and invest in community banks and credit
unions. No longer will we stand idle as banks take extraordinary risk with
our financial system for their short term profits; rather we will vote with
our dollars and no longer contribute financially to the abusive practices of
Wall Street.
If Congress is unable to enact meaningful financial reform that
will prevent another financial disaster, then we must take action into our
own hands and hit the banks where it hurts them the most: their bottom line.
So join us in our campaign for grassroots financial change. Use our
checklist and bank finding tools to find a local financial institution near
you.
But don't stop there:
-
educate yourself on the intricate details
surrounding the issue
-
join our community by contributing to the discussion
on our forums
-
attend and help plan local events
-
most important of all,
encourage your friends and family to join the fight as well
The Film
Why You Should Move Your Money
WHY SHOULD YOU MOVE YOUR MONEY?
Moving your money out of the big Wall
Street banks to small community banks and credit unions is a great idea for
a number of reasons:
-
you will get better rates and fewer fees
-
your
community
banker will learn your name and provide you with more personal service
-
you will be keeping money in your local community which increases economic
development and eventually, creates more jobs
Yet the most important reason
to move your money is to make your voice heard, to stand strong and no
longer help a banking system that has run amok
INVEST IN MAIN STREET, NOT WALL STREET
When you keep your money in a local financial institution, that money in
turn is reinvested in local businesses, which is important for building a
stable economy and encouraging local growth.
Put your money in the big Wall
Street banks however, and they will use your deposits to make risky
investments, gambling at the expense of the economy as a whole.
END TOO BIG TO FAIL
The big banks on Wall Street gambled
with our money, then demanded a bailout of $700 billion. The size of these
Wall Street “Banksters” threatens our economic system, yet their size has
only increased since we bailed them out.
According to
FDIC data, the largest
5 banks held 13% of US deposits in 1994, today they hold 38%. If the
government wont step in and break them up, then we must move our money
ourselves and end ”Too Big To Fail” once and for all.
FEWER FEES, MORE SAVINGS
Worried about ATM fees? You shouldn’t be. More and more community banks and
credit unions offer ATM surcharge-free networks, providing you with even
more access to ATMs nationwide.
Community banks and credit unions also
charge on average less in fees, and often pay you higher interest on your
accounts than big banks. The numbers are clear: the bigger the bank, the
higher the fees.
GET MORE PERSONAL SERVICE
According to JD Power and Associates, small banks have consistently rated
higher in overall customer satisfaction than their Wall Street counterparts
and the gap has only widened in the last few years.
Customers of community
banks and credit unions talk to actual people when they call, instead of
robotic phone-trees. Tellers often know them by name and treat their
customers like family.
LEND A HAND TO LOCAL BUSINESSES
Smaller banks do disproportionately more small business lending than the big
banks. Small businesses, in turn, are the main engine of job growth,
accounting for 65% of new jobs.
Banking locally is a great way to support
independent businesses and create more jobs in your home town.
Success Stories
Since the Move Your Money project began, we have been blown away with the
response.
A year and a half into our campaign and over 4
million accounts have moved away from the nation's largest Wall Street
banks, with an additional 7 to 9 million accounts predicted to move by the
end of 2011, according to Michael Moebs, CEO of Moebs Services (UPDATE: new
numbers suggest nearly 10 million have moved since 2010).
In 2010, Bank of
America lost 400,000 accounts alone, as customers grew weary of
ever-increasing fees, a lack of personalized service and an overall distaste
with the largest bank's abusive practices.
Our message has not only lead to millions moving their accounts from the
'Too Big To Fail' banks, but has also inspired local and state governments
to take a stand against Wall Street in defense of main street.
Below, we list just a few success stories from
across the nation:
Our project has also been endorsed by a number
of politicians and celebrities including,
...went so
far as to move her money to a local community bank in her district. View a
few of our endorsements below:
Bill Maher encourages you to end the abusive relationship with your bank and
break up
Representative Jan Schakowski (D-Ill.) talked to MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan about
why she moved her money from Bank of America to her local Devon Bank:
"Individuals can do something about it. We don't have to live with these
abusers."
Michael Moore lends his support to the campaign as well:
Q&A
Why should I move my money?
Not only will you probably get a
better deal and more personal service at a community bank or credit
union, but you’re also helping take the power away from the “Too Big To
Fail” Wall Street banks that engaged in risky financial practices and
helped cause the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Plus, you’re helping out your community, since local financial
institutions do more lending to small businesses and help revitalize
communities by spurring job growth. The money that you deposit in
community banks and credit unions stays local and helps build a more
vibrant economy.
Lastly, by supporting the safe and sound practices of
local financial institutions, you are helping to nurture a more stable
and responsible financial system for the future.
Will moving my money really make a difference?
Each individual account is
significant to the big banks who make big profits from checking, savings
and transaction accounts. When thousands of people move their money, it
creates a wide-spread social phenomenon beyond the amount of money
involved.
People everywhere are moving their money to small,
community-minded institutions and spreading the word around the web.
Major news organizations have taken notice, and the effort only gets
stronger as more people get involved.
Dennis Santiago explains more
about how your actions matter
here.
Which banks should I be avoiding?
Most people are trying to avoid the
six largest banks that engaged in casino-style financial practices
(credit default swaps, derivatives trading, etc…) and that are largely
to blame for the financial crisis:
-
Citi
-
Bank of America
-
JPMorgan Chase
-
Wells Fargo
-
Goldman Sachs
-
Morgan Stanley
The banks and credit unions we encourage
people to look at largely avoided these kind of financial tricks, and
then did not reward their executives with massive bonuses.
Move Your Money Campaign Grows
...to
Divest From Big Banks & Support Local Banks, Credit Unions
November 2, 2011
from
OWSNews
Website
As participants in the
Occupy Wall Street
movement continue protesting the record profits made by banks bailed out by
taxpayer money, a group of grassroots activists are hitting America’s
largest banks - including,
-
JP Morgan Chase
-
Bank of America
-
Wells Fargo,
...where it hurts most: The wallet.
Dubbing this Saturday, Nov. 5 as “Bank Transfer
Day,” activists are urging people to move their money out of the banks
deemed “too big to fail” in to local community banks and credit unions.
Democracy Now! speaks with filmmaker Eugene
Jarecki: