Move your money!

Comment

Comment by jill herndon on February 1, 2010 at 8:36pm

I moved mine to my Credit Union when I realized that the Bank of New York was working for themselves -- telling me in October 2008 that they were now ready to invest in ..(drumroll) banks.

Comment by Laura Dely on February 1, 2010 at 8:16pm

Thanks Todd!! I have a personal testimony that ties into this topic.
I switched from Wachovia and Bank of America in 2008, but found that the Credit Union also practices some "Potter-like" exploitation.
One form of usury that banks and credit unions force on their customers is the benign-sounding "Overdraft Protection."
When opening an account, customers are told that this is one of the services that come "free" with basic checking. It kicks in when your account runs out of money, but it allows you to keep using your ATM card without warning as you rack up an additional $35 with each swipe of your card.
Once I made several purchases never suspecting that I was down to zero, and ran up a $300-plus bill just in these "protection service fees" for a set of small purchases that totaled no more than $27 total. Let's see, that's an interest rate of about 1000% for a loan I didn't realize I had authorized several months before when I opened my account. And this "loan" was due immediately.
It swallowed my direct deposit part-time paycheck and still I was in the hole for more than $100, and had no cash on hand for necessities like bus, Metro, food, etc. for two weeks.
I called the Credit Union and demanded that they remove this "service" from my account. They resisted, but I insisted, and when they ran up another batch of overdraft fees on my account again this summer, I got the money back. I probably couldn't do that with a bank, but why are Credit Unions charging people the same outrageous fees as banks anyway?
Recently I asked my Credit Union for a copy of our bylaws. They said I would have to go into one of their two branches and sit and read them in the Credit Union -- I could not have a copy.
That's the kind of answer I expect from a Bank, but not a credit union. But then again, the President of the Credit Union Federation testified right alongside the big bank CEOs on Capitol Hill a few months ago, defending Overdraft Protection and other usurious fees as essential to their existence.
It's a similar argument that payday and car-title lenders make in Richmond. NoVA LUUP and our partner org Virginia Interfaith Center have been battling them in Richmond. They are justly criticized for charging as much as 300% annually for small loans.
Imagine if they charged 1000% for a loan due immediately? There is a Community Bank on Wilson in the Clarendon neighborhood that I might check out.

Comment by Barbara Johnson on January 29, 2010 at 11:19am

YES! I'm going to move my money!