Finally ready to do this; should have sooner.
I have an old friend in town who is on the BoD of one of our smaller local credit unions. It's a co-op. He says they are good people. Since the gentleman in question is of stellar local reputation, this makes me feel even better about entrusting some money into the hands of these people, who operate out of a small, adobe-styled, tastefully purple-hued building on route 285, the main drag in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
I'm looking at their brochure, which has eight panels (counting both sides), one of which is entirely taken up by an explicit list of exactly what they will charge one for any given little operative thing, including photocopies. This isn't what I'm used to with banks.
They have share accounts (not sure what those are), children's savings accounts, regular checking accounts (looks like these are free if you keep a monthly average of $500 in the account)
They have senior checking accounts with dividends paid on average daily balances or $1500. They have money market accounts that pay dividends on balances over $2500, CD's from three to 24 month terms with a $1000 minimum, dividends paid quarterly with fixed rate guaranteed for the term of the deposit.
They have IRA's, and they have special club accounts (if you want to save for Christmas or paying income tax or weddings).
Also, VISA credit cards, loans, debit cards, upon approval.
And they're insured, of course.
I've only ventured inside the foyer so far; a double-doored small space with a rack of brochures. I had other things to do and was worried about thunder and my dog going nuts at home, and I wanted to look over their stuff for a bit before I went back.
I was in there long enough to look over all the brochures on the rack, many of which were about how to financially protect one's self from financial fraud and questionable banking practices...while I stood there, quickly scanning the material, I heard a woman laughing delightfully, inside.
Okay, so this financial organ is not only purple, but they're good with women laughing inside it? This gets more and more interesting.
The more I'm thinking about this, the more I'm looking forward to it. I'm thinking CD's. My friend says they give the best rates in town, because they have to compete with all the big guys. Makes sense.
A few small CD's and a checking account. I could see doing that. I've never owned a CD before.
And then I could walk in there and feel like I was part of something that was right. I could feel like I was happy about leaving some money sitting around at a financial institution.
The way I feel about my current bank, which is of one of the monoliths, is more along the lines of wanting to get any money I have deposited within, out of there soon as possible, on general principles, but also because I tend to have this underlying fear that they will somehow figure out some way to take it away from me. Because I don't trust my bank. I see them as a kind of high-end check-cashing service.
And for many of us, that's right. That's exactly what they are offering us. They're not much better than the payday loan operations. And it's getting worse; they're about to crack down and start charging for accounts where you use debit cards and they're cutting off free checking accounts.
Fuck 'em. Move your money. Do it. It's something we can all do together that can collectively make a big difference. Don't assume they are all that strong, these corporate entities. They are out there on the edge, that's how they operate; and pulling even a small percentage of their funds out and putting those funds into indies, co-ops, can really put a twist in their knickers.
I'll blog about this more when I get to know these folks better. I'll even post a photo of the purple building :-)
Imagine referring to Bank of America as "folks." Can't? Me either.
Oh, and no, BoA isn't my current bank. There are other culprits, though. You folks know that.
Move Your Money