National movement encourages consumers to leave big banks on Bank Transfer Day, November 5th
Spokane, Washington More than 65,000 people have pledged to move their money out of big banks on Bank Transfer Day, scheduled for Saturday, November 5th. Global Credit Union welcomes new members who live in Washington State, North Idaho, as well as active and retired military and their families worldwide.
Compared to the same period last year, Global Credit Union has already seen an increase in new account activity since big bank announcements of fee hikes in late September. While at least one national for-profit bank is going to charge customers $60 per year just for using their debit cards to purchase things, Global Credit Union offers that service at no charge and has a checking account that pays dividends as well as reimburses ATM surcharges when account requirements are met.
“We’ve been member owned and about people, not profit since we opened our doors in 1954” said President/CEO Jack Fallis. “Our message hasn’t changed. We’ve traditionally offered free checking accounts, lower interest loans and higher returns on savings accounts. We can understand why consumers would be fed up with big bank fees, and we encourage them to make a smarter choice.”
Global Credit Union is able to offer better service because it is a not-for-profit financial cooperative, existing only to serve members. The credit union does not pay a board of directors and there are no stockholders demanding rich dividends. Credit union members elect the volunteers who serve on the board.
A recent report on the benefits of being a credit union member show a savings of $92 per year for each of Washington’s 2,711,781 credit union members. Adding on the additional $3-to-$15 savings in monthly debit card and checking account fees that they will also not be paying by avoiding a big bank, savings could raise to between $128 and $158 per credit union member.
If every Washingtonian avoided a major bank and joined a credit union, the total savings after the implementation of the bank fees on checking accounts could be as much as $1 billion.
For information on how to join a credit union, please visit http://www.asmarterchoice.org or www.globalcu.org.