Dayton Business Journal...
Banks’ losses are credit unions’ gains
Sunday, November 6, 2011 

Credit unions have taken advantage of the opportunity to grow their customer ranks as some big banks have stirred up consumer anger over debit card user fees and federal bailouts. 

There was even a “Bank Transfer Day” planned for this weekend that has attracted national media attention. 

The Credit Union National Association, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, recently surveyed 5,000 credit unions across the country. The survey results indicated that four out of every five credit unions reported a surge in membership and deposits. 

The association estimated that credit unions across the country have added at least 650,000 new customers since Sept. 29 and collectively added $4.5 billion in new savings accounts. 

Dayton-area credit unions such as Wright-Patt Credit Union and Universal 1 Credit Union are experiencing significant growth along with the recent national trend. 

The local growth has been a sustained trend happening for more than a year now, and Wright-Patt Credit Union is on pace to increase membership by 7.7 percent year-over-year by the end of 2011, according to president and CEO Douglas Fecher. 

Just a few years ago, the average credit union in Ohio had $45 million in assets and 5,800 members. Today, credit unions generally have $50 million in assets and 6,000 members, according to the Ohio Credit Union League    . 

The recent surge in new members followed Bank of America‘s announcement Sept. 29 that it would charge its debit-card customers a monthly $5 fee, unless a customer had a minimum balance of $20,000 with the bank. This past week, BofA rescinded that decision. BofA has operations in the Dayton region. 

The national association also credits the grassroots efforts of 27-year-old Kristen Christian of Los Angeles, who was feeling fed up with big banks, for driving new members to credit unions. She created a Facebook page to encourage people to remove their money from private banks and open up credit union accounts instead. 

She offered a deadline of Nov. 5, or what she dubbed “Bank Transfer Day.” 

About a month after creating the event page, nearly 76,000 people have joined the former art gallery owner’s cause, and more than 39,000 have “liked” her Bank Transfer Day ‘cause’ page. 

Christian, who has now put her money in credit unions, was a Bank of America customer. 

“Together we can ensure that these banking institutions will always remember the 5th of November,” her Facebook page reads. “If we shift our funds from the for-profit banking institutions in favor of not-for-profit credit unions before this date, we will send a clear message that conscious consumers won’t support companies with unethical business practices.” 

The big banks have also been targeted by the Occupy Wall Street protesters, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. being targeted. Both those banks have operations in the Dayton region. 

And Occupy Cincinnati protesters recently marched on the headquarters of Fifth Third Bancorp, Dayton’s largest bank. 

Read this and other articles at the Dayton Business Journal