Credit unions gain from b acklash against big banks
08 Nov 2011
US Credit unions are gaining as backlash from customers over new fees hits large banks.
Credit unions in Texas alone have raked in $326 million in new deposits from 47,000 new member-cusrtomers during the month leading up to the so-called Bank Transfer Day. The movement was orchestrated by an online campaign calling on consumers to switch from banks to the generally smaller credit unions.
According to the The Texas Credit Union League, a state trade association, it gained four times the number of new accounts as against the numbers for the month 2010.
On a national basis, credit unions added more new members in the month than in all of 2010.
Members Choice Credit Union, with 37,000 members mainly from Houston, opened 400 new accounts in October, as against 287 in the same month last year.
According to spokeswoman Kelly Gaines many consumers switched over to the credit union after Bank of America announced it would start charging a monthly $5 fee from customers who made purchases with debit cards.
