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Move your Money
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by Paul Tick
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Last April, I wrote in the
Coop Scoop about how each of us could get credit cards that were as
socially and environmentally responsible as possible. Hopefully, many
of you made the switch--and your credit card purchases are now helping
the community, rather than hurting it.
In addition to changing the bank that holds your credit card, you can
also make an important change in the banks that hold your savings and
checking accounts. You can join thousands of others who are outraged at
the excesses of the big banks-- their undo influence on government, and
their disregard for their customers and our country as a whole. You can
put your money in smaller, local banks that offer the same government-
backed protection and the same services as the bigger banks. Local
banks are much more likely to invest your money locally, usually give
you better and more personalized customer service, and probably are not
using taxpayer bailout money to pad their own pockets (and lobby
Congress to give them even more).
The big bank bailout was supposed to ease the recession by encouraging
those banks to begin business lending again, in order to ramp up
business productivity. Yet, in what political commentator and online
journalist Arianna Huffington calls "...a slap in the face to
taxpayers,"
America's biggest banks (JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America,
Wells Fargo) cut lending to businesses by $100 billion. She points out
that smaller banks, most of which did not need or ask for bailouts, are
now finding it hard to compete with the giants-- especially after their
larger rivals got billions in government money. Huffington and others
have created the "Move Your Money" movement, which invites everyone to
make a New Year's pledge to show the big banks the power of consumers.
We are simply asked to withdraw our funds from the giants, and put the
money in our local banks. The movement is causing quite a sensation and
is being covered by MSNBC, ABC, the Christian Science Monitor and other
media. It's also become a social networking "hit" on YouTube, with
thousands of people posting their stories about moving their money.
Now is a perfect time for you to join in this effort. Follow the links
below to find all the information you need to make this move, including
lists and ratings of local banks. Among the local institutions, you may
wish to consider credit unions such as the Capital Communications and
State Employees federal credit unions, where you can also move your
credit cards. So join in now--and spread the word to everyone you know.
And, if you're a business owner, make sure you do the same for your
establishment.
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Resources
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http://moveyourmoney.info
Huffington Post:
www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/move-yourmoney-a-new-yea_b_406022.html
YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icqrx0OimSs
Capital Communications Federal Credit Union: (518) 458-2195, https://web.capcomfcu.org
State Employees Federal Credit Union (SEFCU): (518) 452-8183, www.sefcu.com
Green credit cards: www.hwfc.com/CoopScoop/Apr09/grocery.html
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