Dennis Santiago of Institutional Risk Analytics reports that in the first seven days of the joint IRA/Huffington Post/Roosevelt Institute Move Your Money campaign, about 340,000 people searched 16,631 zip codes to find community banks in their neighborhoods that are rated healthy by IRA. Well, maybe not 340,000 people"”340,000 searches. I know I searched the 02130 zip code twice yesterday, so that skewed things.
Now I've just searched 10024, my current home zip code in Manhattan. Turns out I'd have to travel 60 blocks to deposit my money. No thanks. But in metropolitan Boston, which lost its last really big local bank when Bank of America gobbled up FleetBoston in 2004, there appear to be IRA-approved community banks on every corner. And I'm pretty sure that, once we figure out where we're going to live up there, we will keep our cash with (and probably get our mortgage from) the likes of Cambridge Trust or Wainwright Bank or People's Federal Savings Bank. Not because I think the Big Four banks are evil, but because I'm pretty sure we'll get a better deal and much better service from one of the small guys.
And that's really what's useful about the Move Your Money campaign. It may not hurt the big banks in any appreciable way, as Martha White argued at The Big Money on Monday. But so what. It's providing a lot of free advertising for small banks that are (a) less likely to prove a burden to taxpayers (b) more likely to reinvest your deposits in your community and (3) less likely to nickel and dime you than Citi or Chase or Wells or BofA are. What's not to like about that?
Let me review some of my horrible experiences with my local financial institution:
1) Applied for a credit card that came with a single page account agreement written in plain English that included no arbitration provision.
2) Said credit card has a 7.9% fixed APR, no fees (not even for cash advances) to speak of, plus the usual grace period if paid in full.
3) They pay checks from the smallest to the largest to minimize NSF fees if you overdraw your account.
4) They won't sign you up for expensive overdraft protection unless you request it. Debit card transactions that would cause you to dip into a negative balance are declined at point of sale.
5) Online billpayer is free.
6) They will reimburse up to six foreign ATM fees per month.
Why anybody is doing business with the big boys is beyond me.
I used to be a banker (with a long-ago consolidated Wall St biggie) but have now become an honest businessman. I would love to see this initiative get serious momentum, but can foresee the biggies ratcheting up things like out-of-network ATM fees, etc. to dissuade "movers". With current absurdly low deposit interest rates, it's hardly worth keeping cash at a bank anyway, and paying exorbitant fees to get it out.
Here, in song, is what I think about the Masters of the Universe:
http://www.youtube.com/rantcaster#p/a/u/0/juywAoQvMm8
Ship the b**tards off to Guantanamo!!!
One could maintain small amounts in larger banks, and transfer funds when necessary and convenient for travel and accessibility, etc.
I don't think ATM fees are that big of a deal. Many merchants these days offer a 'cash back' option. A pack of gum is cheaper than most ATM fees and is a product that I actually need. I use this method to procure a lot of the cash that I need.
Most merchants will cap the amount you can receive ($40 or $50 seems common) but that's rarely an issue. If I need more than $40 I'll visit my branch office during business hours.
Oops. You're a bit off Mr. Fox! Don't forget to scroll down. Putting your ZIP of 10024 in at moveyourmoney.info actually gives you a result that has to be closer than 60 blocks:
APPLE BANK FOR SAVINGS 2100 Broadway At 73rd Street New York, NY 10023
The Zip 10024 spans the West Side from 77th to 91st St., so by my calculations, the furthest you could be from the above bank is 21 blocks - still no small amount, to be sure. The closest you could be with that Zip is 4 blocks, which I find rather convenient.
The results when you type in your zip are listed in ascending order based on zip code.
Thanks for the correction!
"I'd have to travel 60 blocks to deposit my money"
You actually go to the bank to deposit money?? What century are you stranded in???
Ditto! My community bank built a new building four years ago, but I've only been there twice. I do it all by direct deposit and on line. My 85 year old neighbor, however, goes every week because she's been going there every week for the last fifty years and she has strong relationships with everyone from the bank president to the person who dusts the lobby. That's the kind of thing that happens in community banks-------community.
I know the Independent Community Bankers of America also have a community bank locater on their site too (www.icba.org). If you insert the zip code 10024, I found 20 community banks within a 5 miles. I found a number of small banks around my zip code too.
Here are the banks in the 10024 zip code area: Savoy Bank ( 1 mi.),Modern Bank, N.A. ( 2 mi.) Interaudi Bank ( 2 mi.), Herald National Bank ( 2 mi.) The First National Bank of Long Island ( 2 mi.), IDB Bank ( 2 mi.), Safra National Bank of New York ( 2 mi.) Metropolitan National Bank ( 2 mi.), The First National Bank of Long Island ( 3 mi.), Shinhan Bank America ( 3 mi.), Mariner's Bank ( 3 mi.), Alma Bank ( 3 mi.), BNB Bank, National Association ( 3 mi.), Woori America Bank ( 3 mi.), Habib American Bank ( 3 mi.) Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank, FSB ( 3 mi.), BNB Bank, N. A. ( 4 mi.), CheckSpring Bank ( 4 mi.) BNB Bank, N. A. ( 5 mi.), Abacus Federal Sa+ings Bank ( 5 mi.)
Thanks, but I don't think any of those banks are actually in my neighborhood (or in the 10024 zip code). In NYC, a mile is a really long way to go.
Do any banking experts ever look at the simple facts of the monetary system?
In a reserve monetary system, like the Federal Reserve and the banks that own it, money is created as the principal of loans. With the exception of coins, the US money supply is someone's debt. They are debt that must be repaid with interest at a specific time set forth in loan contracts. When the debt is paid, the money disappears from the money supply. If all debts are repaid, there will be no money.
If there is no money other than that created as the principal of loans, where is money to pay interest to be found? If the interest is paid from the money supply, where is the money to repay the loans to be found. Meeting both conditions of the loan contracts is impossible. Therefore, the loan contracts are unenforceable when seen in their entirety.
The inescapable conclusion, no bank is healthy because the entire reserve banking system is a fraud.
I love Credit Unions, and have kept my money in them for years. they are controlled by their members..the best way to go!
The worst credit union is better than the best bank! When you join a credit union, you become an owner, not just a customer. Any bank, even a community bank, is always trying to make money off of you. A credit union is a nonprofit cooperative whose purpose is to meet your needs. This doesn't mean that every credit union is perfect or that everything a credit union does is great, but the bottom line is that credit unions don't operate to make a profit from your business. That is ultimately the only purpose of a bank.
Yeah, I meant to say something nice about credit unions. Thanks for giving them a plug!
One little problem with this scenario: If you happen to have a mortgage with a 'Too Big to Fail' Fannie or Freddie Bank now, then you will find that money very difficult to move. In fact, better mortgage rates are found via brokers, who select your money price from a range of lenders; not necessarily with your credit union or savings and loan who have limited resources. Besides which, HAMP, the much famed loan modification rescue plan, is only offered (selectively, I might add) by the Big Box Banks who are participating in stimulus fund incentives. To add to the confusion, most S&L's and CU's promote they are investing locally but refuse to lend to the most distressed among us, self employed businesses and investors. ***sigh**** Life is not perfect.
I'd be happy to put my money in a CU but as a freelancer I can't find a CU that I qualify for. I've done a web search without much luck.
For those folks who live in 10023 or 10024 zips on the Upper West Side of Manhattan like me, Apple Bank is one of the worst banks in the city. Their fees are the highest anywhere, charging $3 at ATMs and other hidden overcharges. I know people who have banked there and left in disgust. In addition, one of the owners was involved in a lawsuit a number of years ago for shady financial dealings. Better stay in the crappy big bank you know, than the neighborhood one you don't, until we have better alternatives. If that weren't the case, I would have left JPMorgan/Chase a long time ago.
Two-cheers for CU's! And if you want the same roughly comparative advantage of the big banks pick a values-driven community or regional bank over any other. Fre and Fnm just move money off of banks book onto their own then kick them into the secondary market w/out them (and their implicit guarantee) banks would slam their doors in the face of most potential "homeowners."
FWIW South Coastal Bank is a great Boston-area option if you end up in Quincy. Never had a better banking experience.
[...] Three cheers for Move Your Money – The Curious Capitalist – TIME.com January 7th, 2010 in [...]
I (and many fellow citizens) believe the Big Four banks ARE evil, as their reckless behavior almost took down our economy, and may still do so in spite of our congressmen throwing buckets of money at them.
My only quibble with local banks is that I can't access my money via ATMS when I travel. Perhaps they can join or form some association of community banks to overcome this final deficiency.
They have: http://www.sum-atm.com/
You might want to check with your bank to see if they reimburse for ATM surcharge fees. There are a number of small banks that will reimburse their customers for using another bank's ATM. There are also some sites you can go to like http://www.moneypass.com or http://www.allpointnetwork.com that will show you surcharge-free ATMs.
[...] Read the whole story: Time Tyrone's List [...]
[...] an article on Time.com that there is a pretty significant movement that people are embracing called Move Your Money! The article begins by [...]
[...] Justin Fox (Time) [...]
[...] Three cheers for Move Your Money Dennis Santiago of Institutional Risk Analytics reports that in the first seven days of the joint IRA/Huffington [...] [...]
Move your money to a credit union. They are as safe as banks, owned by the members and make business loans as well as commercial loans to the members. When they make money, YOU share it! Many are community credit unions where anyone in the community can belong. All have the same FDIC type guarantees as banks and they are closely regulated.
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