Unhappy with the culture on Wall Street? Angered by the behavior of the banking giants? Then move your money to a community bank or credit union. That's the message of Move Your Money, a campaign that's gone viral since it launched late last year.
It all started when Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post had dinner with some friends who were disturbed by "the huge, growing chasm between the fortunes of Wall Street banks and Main Street banks," Huffington wrote in an essay about the project. The result is www.moveyourmoney.info, a website that suggests individuals voice their displeasure with their deposits.
Jeanne Griffin is sold on the concept. It's not that she's had problems with her big bank. But the bank bailout "did bother me," said the 34-year-old technical analyst. "All of us are paying for all of this and it's hurting the economy," she said. She opened an account with Bremer Bank, because "they aren't about making money off of people." (Bremer is owned by the Otto Bremer Foundation and donates about 40 percent of its profits to the community.) Griffin, who lives in Minneapolis, said she also feels safer keeping her money with a smaller bank.
It's no surprise that Marshall MacKay likes the idea. "It's a pushback to what we've seen play out in the economy," said the president of the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota. He says community banks are well-suited to the times. "The more dollars that you put in your local community bank, the more funds that they have available to lend to the consumer to buy a house, or a small businessman to produce products or services, or thankfully, employ people."
In this era of tighter credit, community banks are more likely to consider more than just a credit score when lending out money. Plus it's easier to find someone with the power to make decisions if you have mortgage trouble.
Even the Legislature is considering bills proposing that the state's general revenue account and some reserves of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system be deposited with community banks or credit unions.
Morningstar banking analyst Jaime Peters thinks the movement is feeding off of negative perceptions about bailouts of the big banks. Yet in the crisis atmosphere of late 2008, many big banks felt forced to take funds from the government whether they needed to or not. And many, she points out, repaid the government as soon as they could. Among them were Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and TCF Financial.
And while the financial crisis might prompt some individuals to reconsider their banking relationship, it's not showing up in the numbers. Big banks actually captured more market share in the aftermath of the crisis, Peters said.
