Ideas for covering the impact of ‘Bank Transfer Day’

Day 20 of the Occupy Wall Street protests in lower Manhattan. Photo by Flickr user waywuwei

Why am I picturing that classic scene from the film “Network” when a disenchanted populace follows the lead of equally disenchanted TV news anchor Howard Beale in the “I’m mad as hell…” shriek to the universe?

With the fascinating Occupy Wall Street campaign still gaining momentum nationwide, there’s another, sort of related grass-roots movement afoot that provides fresh fodder for business writers.

That would be “Bank Transfer Day,” a protest that’s being launched via Facebook and apparently hopes to create a viral movement among consumers willing to withdraw their patronage of the big banks being blamed for everything from the mortgage meltdown and foreclosure crisis to high checking-account fees.

Bank Transfer Day Facebook avatar.

Consumers are urged to take their funds out of big banks and instead open accounts at credit unions and other small establishments.

Organizers have chosen Nov. 5 as the target date for the event — it happens to be Guy Fawkes Day in Great Britain, a day that celebrates the failure of a plot to kill King James in 1604. The Bank Transfer Day Facebook page, on its FAQ area, is kind of vague on what that has to do with the solidarity among consumers they are exhorting, or why a Guy Fawkes mask is their Facebook avatar.

The non sequitur notwithstanding, it a fascinating movement and one you can address a number of ways. Here are a few ideas:

Credit unions. Will the credit unions in your area try to woo disenchanted bank patrons? This article from Monday’s Credit Union Times indicates a certain amount of buzz within the industry; Facebook hits and traffic on the industry’s “find a credit union” site are up, a spokesman said.

You can use the “find a credit union” search tool to round up the organizations near you, and compare their offerings and fees to those at banks.  (Don’t forget to check loan rates and CD-interest offerings as well as fees for services.)  A grid or chart comparing costs of a hypothetical set of accounts — say, a checking account with a debit card and average balance of $400, a $15,000 car loan, a $120,000 mortgage and a credit card balance of $3,000 — at a variety of institutions could be enlightening.

Fiscal health.  The Florida consulting firm Bauer Financial, which shares much of its rating data with business journalists, updates its troubled financial institution reports in September, so the time is ripe to check on how they’re doing in your area.  This AZCentral.com report is a good start; you might even want to include an organization’s Bauer star rating in the consumer comparison-shopping chart above.

Alternative financial products.   If borrowers and savers are fed up and can’t take it any more, what options exist?  Now might be a good time to look around for interesting banking alternatives in your area, from Islamic banking systems to micro-lending to special banking programs for poor or underserved people.  This recent report from USA Today about options for low-income customers is a neat round-up of innovative services, such as a cash card offered through the AFL-CIO.

What options exist in your community for people who don’t want a traditional bank or credit union account?

Fees — are they really that bad?  People who have done most of their banking in the past 10 or 15 years may be aghast at the notion of paying $5 or more each month for the privilege of having a debit card.  Heck, I can remember paying that much in the 1980s for a savings account in which the money just sat there.  And who else recalls per-check charges, fees for getting your paper checks mailed back to you, etc?

No one likes to fork over hard-earned cash but in an era when consumer services from Qwikster…er, Netflix to airline food and luggage options are increasingly a la carte, is it really so bad that people are being asked to pay for the conveniences they choose?  There is no right or wrong answer, but nose around your business community for other examples of the new a la carte or menu paradigm.  Health clubs?  Child care? Assisted living (extra fees for a daily bath are not uncommon, for example.)  Talking to executives about the pros and cons of a menu of services could make for an interesting Q&A or panel discussion.