On Tuesday (Nov 1) it was just an event page on Facebook and now it has grown to a national movement. This Nov 5 in the USA, will be marked as the Bank Transfer Day, where activists are going to transfer funds from for-profit banks to non-profit institutions and credit unions in their home cities.
Organised by Kristen Christian, who is a private citizen and small business owner, the Bank Transfer Day Page has more than 83,400 RSVPs as of now.
Why is a normal citizen going out to such lengths to do this?
I was tired — tired of the fee increases, tired of not being able to access my money when I need to, tired of them using what little money I have to oppress my brothers & sisters. So I stood up. I’ve been shocked at how many people have stood up alongside me. With each person who RSVPs to this event, my heart swells. Me closing my account all on my lonesome wouldn’t have made a difference to these fat cats. But each of YOU standing up with me… they can’t drown out the noise we’ll make.
Is this going to cause another economic crisis?
No it is not, because according to Kristen,
It’s not people taking their money and burying it under their mattress. It’s shifting the money to a company people respect the practices of. It’s like, if you don’t like Wal-Mart’s practices, shopping at a local grocery store instead.
What will happen with these protests? Are they going anywhere?
According to the Credit Union National Association, “at least 650,000 consumers across the nation have joined credit unions in the past four weeks.” These developments have been greatly accelerated due to the announcement of Bank of America, according to which they will be charging $5 (Rs 250) per month fee for debit cards.
These movements come at a time where America is facing public outcry resulting to many movements like Occupy Wall Street and Move Your Money, it would be interesting to see if back home in India we could see movements like these which will force the governments to stop being slaves to the corporates.
A point to note from this is that people will oppose wrong decisions, no matter where they come from, the government or the big companies. Infact decisions which are against the public opinion will only create negative publicity which is bad for any business. So it is always the best policy to try please the public and hence your customers!
What do you think of this movement? What would happen if something like this happens in India?
Interesting note: The 5th of November was chosen as the date by Guy Fawkes to carry out the unsuccessful attempt on the life of King James I of England, know as the Gunpowder Treason. Here is a little poem that’s famous for it.
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