NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Credit unions and small banks say they’ve seen big jumps in new account openings thanks to this weekend’s “Move Your Money” and “Bank Transfer Day” initiatives, but do the big banks even care?
Digital Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in New England with 330,000 total members, welcomed 133 new members on Saturday. That’s 56% higher than the average 85 account openings it sees on a typical Saturday.
According to the credit union’s spokesman John LaHair, a majority of the new account holders said they were defecting from Bank of America, which helped spark this weekend’s social-media-fueled movements when it tried to introduce a debit card fee in late September.
Backed by groups of consumers like MoveOn.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), “Move Your Money” and “Bank Transfer Day” were designed to urge customers of the nation’s biggest banks to switch to a credit union or community bank, which are known for having fewer and/or lower fees and penalties.
“They were joining because even with the announcement that [Bank of America] was not going to charge a monthly debit card fee, they felt that there’d be some other fee down the road,” LaHair said
Full story: Bank dumping: Do the megabanks even care?