Business

Credit unions boom

Happy Bank Transfer Day!

It’s unlikely you’ll be wishing that to your friends and family on Nov. 5. But if you are one of the millions of bank customers who loathe the new fees being charged by your financial institution, then the first Saturday in November could be a date to mark on your calendar.

Critics of the industry have chosen Guy Fawkes Day as the symbolic deadline for a Facebook-driven crusade to get people to withdraw their money from regular bank accounts and stash it in feeless, but oft-ignored, credit unions.

The bank-transfer movement was started by Los Angeles art gallery owner Kristen Christian after Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other big banks said that they would charge monthly debit-card fees in response to the passage of the Durbin Amendment, which caps how much banks can charge retailers for swiping debit cards.

As a result, credit unions in New York City have reported spikes in inquiries.

The Credit Union National Association said its members have seen an increase in account openings, and the group’s Web site aimed at informing customers about credit union services, ASmarterChoice.org, has seen traffic double in recent weeks.

“We’ve seen surges in the past; most of the time it drops back down, but this is more sustained and seems to be gaining momentum,” said Bill Cheney, president and CEO of CUNA, though hard numbers on new members and deposits had yet to come in.

This level of attention is unusual for credit unions, despite some drawbacks.

“I don’t think credit unions will ever get around the perception that they’re not as convenient as, say, Bank of America,” said George Hofheimer, chief research officer for Filene Research Institute, which studies consumer finance.

But he added that as more credit unions have shifted to an inclusive community- rather than employer-based, and expanded their surcharge-free ATM networks, these issues are easing.

Revulsion over the new fees and the banks’ focus on pleasing their shareholders have made these previous concerns much less pressing by comparison.

But even those ready to make the jump may find moving to a credit union to be a bit complicated.

For many customers using automatic bill payments or direct deposits, unwinding all their transactions and moving them to a different financial institution can quickly become daunting.

“It’s a really hard thing to change your account, and I think that it’s going to be a while before everyone who talks about it gets around to doing anything about it,” said Linda Levy, CEO of Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union.

Banks are counting on the inconvenience.