Move your money

Move your money

Move your money : If George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” you still have perfect vision, a small town banker, who then will not tell you today is the equivalent of the movie villain, and dastardly Mr. Potter?

If you are asking about the Huffington Post webmistress, Arianna Huffington, it’s JP Morgan, Citibank, Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo.

“These banks, which received taxpayer money, which was bailed out by taxpayers, in fact, did not perform their duty to help small businesses, lending, and therefore the economy can start again and start producing jobs,” she said.

In fact, Huffington has launched a campaign that drives that point with a sledgehammer.

“Move Your Money” campaign urging customers to transfer their money from big banks and small banks, community-oriented.

Robert Johnson works with the Institute of Roosevelt, the progressive think-tank, where he helped in the drafting of this campaign.

“Each one of us, collectively, do not have money,” says Johnson. “And when we move our money, and we vote with different currencies, and this is one of the companies that pay attention to.”

He adds, “Taking money away from people who pay you zero, charge you 30 percent on your credit cards, and hit you with all types of overdraft charges, and use the money to do so, as he says, and trade and intellectual pay themselves huge bonuses and $ 400 million dollars on lobbying – Why you want to enable these people? ”

By entering your zip code in the moveyourmoney.info Web site, a list of small banks adjacent to persistent organic pollutants, all of which have received a rating of “B” or better by the independent auditors.

“We never took any TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program] money, we did not do mortgage loans,” says Paula Saraiva, a manager at the trust of the people in the West Mamaroneck, New York “We are unique in that we do everything services that the largest banks do, but we give it a personal touch. ”

The Bank also tries to emphasize the small things, such as counting coins for free.

“Customers want a personal touch,” said Saraiva. “They want to know to know their families, which are the children know that you actually help.”

Credit unions also offer an alternative. The cooperatives bank, which is fully operational for the benefit of members rather than shares of companies, and usually offer better terms than the major banks.

Taken first Community Credit Union Kalamzoo, Michigan six years ago, it had sold its credit card program to a bank.

Interest rates have risen to as much as 29 percent. Ondine Irving Bank consultant was called in to restart the program card.

“The members got a surprise,” says Irving. “The rates were rising.”

Credit union has been crowned the maximum rate, and removed many of the fees, and now offers rates as low as about 8 percent.

“The credit unions can get rid of all that and still make a profit,” says Irving. “If credit unions can do it, we should be able to bank as well.

“They just decide not to return to.”

To be fair, many of the smaller banks in trouble, too. Most of the banks more than 700 in the organization to the list of goods is a small or medium-sized enterprises, are prone to bad mortgages.

“It’s a Wonderful Life”, even Bailey Building and Loan nearly went under. At the end of the day, but it was George Bailey in the relationship between the community which has given this story a happy ending.