On December 29, 2009, MoveYourMoney.info came online. The concept became a media phenomenon, and the zip code search application -- which I found myself literally programming on the kitchen table during the holidays -- became one of the early killer apps of 2010. Traffic spikes more akin to a media site came into IRA's servers, which had until then been optimized to automate operations and maintenance timelines for professional users. By mid-quarter, 100% of all zip codes where an FDIC member branch bank was listed had been explicitly searched on the internet.
Until now, rumor and anecdote have been the order of the day in terms of who's won, who's lost and who's slid sideways when it comes to garnering the bank deposits favor of "ordinary people". We've seen bankers and their trade associations react both enthusiastically and cooly. Some, as the data will show, have been having a field day. Others have been able to maintain their business positions in this still tenuously recovering economic climate. Some have continued to flounder.
And lest one think they are asleep at the wheel, the big banks -- which until now have not had to contend with the menial market shares of the smaller banks -- have watched carefully. They have modified their practices quietly as the proverbial "stickiness" of customers started to liquify (at least in the eyes of the media and the Internet).
The end of December 2009 conincided nicely with the end of the 4th quarter of 2009 FDIC operating period for banks. This delivered a point in time capture of the industry's deposits deployment in the CALL/TFR reports. Ninety days later the 1Q2010 CALL/TFR operating period ended, giving us the first look at the numerical effects of the Move Your Money concept.
The reporting window for banks to submit to the FFIEC's Central Data Repository (CDR) closed last weekend. IRA has been tracking CALL submittals into the CDR as they've been coming in and has constructed a state-by-state survey of changes in reported total deposits for those banks that meet Move Your Money's guidelines for inclusion in its Zip Code Search Tool. See the survey for yourself.
Barely past its own first 100 days, Move Your Money is still a concept in its infancy. It continues to gain new grassroots energy. Its original purpose, to create broad pressure to bring the "Main Street" banking system back into contact with consumers, is still being explored. It remains a plural initiative beholden to neither left nor right. I'm told it's been reported in Japan as one of the American cultural phenomena of early 2010.
The second quarter continues.
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One idea I thought of, though, is a completely new type of economy where money is a utility used for fairly distributing resources and in which usury is illegal and financial abuse is not tolerated.
And then I'll be able to move my money.
To ChickenLips, our credit history had nothing to do with moving money to a credit union. Credit history might be a factor in obtaining a credit card/debit card from a credit union. If we'd had that problem, we would have moved cash assets to the credit union, anyway and forgone the debit card, until our customership--as it were--allowed all accounts to be melded. Credit unions, in my experience, are not exclusively tailored to those with flawless credit histories. Ours certainly was not at the time of the move. If the so-called big banks are so allegedly "helpful, " I'd strongly advise watching your back and your statement diligently.