Move Your Money Out of Bailed Out Banks

Anti-big bank movement is gaining steam

You’ve seen it in the news and you’ve experienced it firsthand. Banks ran home crying to mama (the government) for bailout money to keep the doors open, and got billion from taxpayers, and what have they done with it since? High salaries and executive bonuses are still common in America’s big banks, and the American people are fed up. They can use payday loans, if they need some quick cash in the short term, but what about long term solutions? The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) and it’s board members, like Heather Murren, are well informed and probing bank CEOs about regulatory issues. But what can the average person do if they want to no longer have anything to do with the kind of corrupt and inept sleaze that head the average bank? You CAN Move Your Money if you wish!

Community banks and credit unions build communities

Move Your Money is a grassroots effort that is designed to shift power “away from Wall Street and to Main Street,” according to MoveYourMoney.info. In a recent article, Phil Britt points out that the movement is supported by The Huffington Post, which is a significant organization to have in one’s corner. Move Your Money aims to say NO to Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase. They “took billions in taxpayer money and have cut lending to businesses by $ 100 billion.” The founder of the Huffington Post, Ariana Huffington (obviously) deems it “populism at its best… a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest.” If the American people don’t start demanding better practices, the banks won’t respond and continue their mismanagement of your funds and the cycle will repeat itself.

Community banks support them

Berdell Knowles of the Community Development Bankers Association defines the culture gap between average citizens and big bankers. He blogs that “The bank executives who make the decisions on how to use the earnings from your money, whether it be to pay management bonuses or to invest in sub-prime mortgages, will probably know little about you or your community.” The natural alternative is community banks that use their economic power to directly help local economies (rather than funneling it into the gigantic overhead big banks bring to the table).

Not only that, but Knowles acknowledges that a community bank might have better insight into a borrower’s creditworthiness if they’re familiar with the customer. It’s a personal touch that big banks can’t possibly duplicate. Another thing community banks have over big banks is specific community economic funds distributed by the government (federal and state). An example Britt gives is the three percent TARP funds for Small Business Lending. There was $ 1 billion in assets, specifically for community banks.

Is Move Your Money just a flash in the pan? Yes they are

Credit Union National Association CEO Dan Mica has blogged that “consumers are already voting with their wallets in favor of credit unions.” The growth of credit union membership grew by 2 percent in 2009, the best numbers credit unions have seen 2001, so this isn’t a lark. Rep. Barney Frank had it right when he observed that the crash in the financial system wouldn’t have happened if the large banking institutions had behaved a bit more like credit unions or community banks. A lot of people are getting the idea to teach the large banks a lesson, and Move Your Money is a good way to do it. When the people need money, they can use payday loans, but in the long term, community banks and credit unions are much more worthwhile to support that America’s treacherous big banks.