Forum Post: Closing our Bank of America Accounts
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 12, 2011, 2:29 a.m. EST by littrellb
(199)
from Hillsboro, OR
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I was reading a post on the Occupy Boston page about everyone going to close their B of A accounts at the same time or date. Has anyone else heard anything about this? I think it is a great idea and the money could easily be deposited back into a local credit union. Any news or ideas on this would be great. And I say why limit it to B of A? lets go with Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.. also.
Actions speak louder than words and therefore I really support this move. If you have an account at any of the big banks in America you should transfer funds to a small community bank near you. This would be a good personal initiative to boycott the criminals on wall street. I think such a move will bring some kind of balance to our heavily monopolized banking sector, which conducts itself with impunity...Find a local community bank and transfer your funds there.
Why the hell would you have done business with that looser bank in the first place? I am starting to loose faith in the OWS crowd. Help restore my faith....get the money out!
I didnt have the same ideals I have now when I was 18. and go figure, they were offering this kid with no credit a credit card. Got into some trouble with that and now I refuse to have a credit card. Dont lose faith, were figuring this out.
Been There.....Done That
This idea is very powerful. I would amass a large number of people committed to the idea first, lay out the demands, and then promise to withdraw on the same day if they aren't met. That should get things moving. A run on the banks is the thing they fear the most.
"Bank of America joined Wall Street competitors JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs in recording no trading days that resulted in a net loss during the first quarter. 5/12/2010"
While the world was failing Wall Street was cashing in on their own destruction - after taxpayers bailed them out that is
On the day you close your corporate account you should open a time bank account.
Technology is the impetus for the dawning of the new era. For the first time all of humanity can instantaneously communicate on a global scale. We can control our birth rate with the use of safe effective birth control. We have the resources to feed and house the world’s population. Most all human suffering is manmade or worsened by greed and lack of empathy. Technology has also given us the ability choose our destiny. We can continue the current trajectory: depletion of resources, growing inequalities and war. Or, we can choose a new way.
The path to enlightenment, equality, and sustenance is attainable with a united movement. Part of that movement is time bank. Time bank is a network of humanity. Organized on line. Completely transparent. All inclusive. Hour in. Hour out. That’s it. No person’s hour is more or less valuable than another.
A worldwide time bank can be started now. With enough participation it can catalyze the transition from the current corrupt monetary system to a society where money is irrelevant and each person is valued. Fear and greed will paralyze this movement. Hope and imagination can propel it.
Time is the Substance from which I am made. – Jorge Luis Borges
If you all take the money out of bank, for sure you will make them break down, and will be the end of actuall bank system and FIAT .... there same history we hade here (Argentina) people start slowly taking out money out of bank, and after the gobernement couldnt stop it. Banks where shoutdown on 2001. After a few month of panic , the neoliberlalism was ended. Take a look on the "cacerloza" of 2001 , is quite same history, popular sparks, nervus people taking money out... nervus goberment...
You have heard of a bank run right?...
No, what is a bank run?
It's bad. A lot of depositors get screwed. It's when everyone takes their money out of a bank. Considering there is $.05 in cash to back up every $1 in the bank, it could be bad...
The ultimate sacrifice would getting the middle class to just deal in currency only. No Banks. Then you would really see the collapse of our corrupt banking system.
But electronic currency unfortunately is here to stay.
It's not just Boston or Occupy, but other customers as well. I heard it was to be on Nov. 7, but you don't have to wait. We waited far too long and we're (my family) pulling out. It's not just about debit cards either. To many abuses have been perpetrated by a bank that can't function and needs our support. I saw someone made a comment about 'if you can't afford a debit card don't have one.' The thing is that years ago banks encouraged us to use debit cards because it made things more efficient and saved them money. I remember a time when a bank gave you a toaster for opening an account!! Now they want to charge us for using debit cards at the same time they have made it very inconvenient not to have one. Can't disagree about doing it to all banks, but imagine if we target one effectively and shake them all up.
Do you even have an idea why the debit fee occurred. Dick Durbin, Democrat from Iowa, inserted an amendment onto the finance reform bill last year. Durbin wrote into law that the banks had to lower their charges to the retailers for debit cards. B of A is simply charging the only other one involved with the transaction because the government prevents them from getting it from the retailers like they had been in the past. Why don't you go complain to Dick Durbin and the Democrats who passed that law?
I know about the lower charges to retailers thing and as far as I am concerned the high paid execs at Bank of America can just get paid less.
You could cut their pay to zero and not make up the revenue lost by what Dick Durbin and the Democrats took away from them.
Finally, someone who understands this situation.
My guess is the merchant fees made up almost the entire revenue stream for the debit card division of BoA. Then the gov't stepped in and said "we're cutting your revenue streams in half." So... would you expect BoA to then turn around and say to their employees, vendors, business partners, etc., "Well, since our revenue was cut in half, we have to cut our expenses in half, so we're going to pay you only half of what we were paying you prior to this new legislation."
Is that honestly what you would expect? Is that fair?
It was all predicted in the hearings prior to the finance reform bill being passed
This worked for getting the message to Netflix. It will work here too. Again, the power of the masses will always prevail. I am a former BofA, Chase, Comerica account holder and I will never go back. Credit Union has been awesome.
Excellent comment. Thanks.
Have closed B of A accounts. The last one to close was an e-account. B of A is suppose to mail check for funds in account. About six weeks, and no check. Talked to a customer service rep last week, who tried to help. The rep said "I would not put my money in this bank".
Bank of America, what a stink bomb.
If they don't gag up the money soon, am going to make a complaint to someone. Does anyone have a suggestion as to who to complain to?
my friend receive her unemployment money through Bank of America
Yes, pull your money out of the bank.
No, do not pull your money out of the bank.
why?
Everyone loses when you have a run on the bank. The bank gets bailed out, tax payers take the hit. Those holding deposits are insured, tax payers take the hit. Money and time is wasted.
what should we do?
Vote for those that support your cause. And if no one is in the position to support your cause, then run for office yourself! That's the system we have in place, and that is what makes our country so great!
I'm a few decades ahead of you (Neener! =p) and yes, it should be ALL the big banks.
It would be great if everyone realized how many more banks should be shut down...since they do nothing for the public but suck you dry!... Here they are, in rank and blood money accounts...
Please do this!!! I am shorting all of the major bank stocks!!! I want to see BofA go to $0. Crash the banks!!!
lol
I think it's a great idea, here are some other things we can try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoU-bAcd2Qw
Thank you for this posting. As per the YouTube it says to disregard traditional media news such as CNN, NBC, etc. And get unbiased and unfiltered news from the Internet. Can you please give us a few links? Would the iPad app Huffington Post be one?
Yea if you have a checking account with 115$ please close your accounts cause your not profitable to the company. Why the hell you think they are charging you 5 dollars a month for your debit cards now
Yes, the banks were intentionally trying to get rid of customers who they don't want anyway. That's why they made sure that people noticed when they announced new fees. If a bunch of people at the bottom of "the 99%" who live month-to-month all move their money to credit unions, then the overall effect would be less than that of the bank losing just one "good" customer with real money in the bank.
No kidding...is that what happened when the stock market crashed in the 20's??? So, where were all their "good" customers then???
From what I read and saw, the banks tried to close their doors on the masses to keep them from taking their money out! And most of the wealthy and elite had nothing left!!!
someone has to lead the movement. they don't deserve our money. AND we need an alternate way of making payments. SO we wont even need banks for that function anymore.
WE NEED LEADERSHIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP to compromise everyone's radical ideas. We can't rid of banks for good. That is chaos. We need banks...banks with regulation. Without leadership, everyone is going to spit out their ideas and hope it catches wind. But what happens when we see no progress to these ideas and people start to get frustrated...we are going to get angrier and angrier. I fear this protest will become more violent and hateful. THIS CANNOT HAPPEN or the entire movement will be stunted or worse, doomed.
LOL....I concur!!!
Don't you get it? Their good customers are the 1%.
Don't you get it...their good customers will pull out their money just as well!!!
You put too much faith in the falsehoods of the rich and famous and greedy!!
Why would the 1% participate in a boycott called for by a movement that is explicitly about blaming them for society's problems? Do you thnk that 100% of the population is going to agree on a course of action designed to harm the top 1%?
Are you scared?
I am sure you can read, think, look around you and see the answer(s) to your own question for yourself.
If not, then you are a useless member of Society and should slink away!!!
An "us-versus-them" mentality is the mark of an extremist. Pat Robertson does that. If you don't agree with him then you support Satan. Osama bin Laden did it. George W Bush, with his, "if you're not with us then you're against us.". You just did the same thing, but with a different flavor of Satan.
Yep, when all else fails, and there is no logical reply to a logical question... REVERT TO RELIGION and DEMIGODS!!!
Get a grip son...I didn't create this mess. I know exactly who SATAN is!!!
I didn't "revert to religion", I pointed out that you're using extremist tactics. Extremism isn't going to win over independents and centrists. Branding people who don't agree with you as the enemy is an extremist tactic. I used people who DO "revert to religion" as an example of that, and I compared you to them for calling me a "useless member of society" for not agreeing with your world view.
My world view?? Now aren't you getting a little extreme? And please point out what "extremist tactics" I am using?
To compare me to Satan is "extreme" since you and I both know there is no such thing except for who and what we are in the flesh! Have yu ever seen Satan?
So,,,You have THE SOLUTIONS to America's problems?
BRING IT ON!!
You're not understanding what I'm saying in a truly unbelievable way. I didn't compare you to Satan. I compared you to Pat Robertson and Osama bin Laden, who see Satan in anybody who disagrees with them.
My suggestion for how to address the issues that you personally feel are America's problems is to learn to participate effectively in the democratic process, because people who disagree with you about which issues are the key problems are using the system against you. There is a Rolling Stone article cited in the article that I just linked to, that I strongly suggest reading.
No thanks...most Rolling Stones articles follow the same political jargon as the rest of the economic hit list, left wing, right wing, chicken shyts.
I don't believe in anyone who deals with Wall Street or their cronies.
http://wherechangeobama.blogspot.com/2010/08/rolling-stone-magazines.html
So, there really is no logic to anything yu say...correct? Better get back out on that floor and trade son....
It won't last forever.
I'll summarize for you then. Republicans are successfully rigging the system in favor of business, and banks, by disenfranchising people who are likely to vote against their agenda. That includes passing legislation to require photo IDs to vote, disenfranchising prisoners and ex-felons, blocking legislation intended to fight gerrymandering, making it far more difficult to run voting registration drives, and other horrifying tactics.
Burying your head in the sand won't help anything because while you're boycotting democracy, your enemies are actively and effectively using the system against you. The cost of not participating is losing.
Hey...who do you think you are responding to?
I already stated those same points in another forum yesterday. As I stated before, you have no logical answers because you keep reheating the same old soup.
If you have nothing that can give future insight to where all this is headed, then what is the point of all this rhetoric? You have yet to say what the answer is because you keep ass-uming things and positions that I have not stated on this particular forum. You just want to argue and truly, as I stated before...all the rhetoric in the world is not going to change the outcome of this economic world monopoly downward spiral. It is taking place right before our eyes and my friend, don't play the devil's advocate with me either. You have no clue what I participate in, or how many people are involved in the same upward movements as I, or how secure I am in my position. Therefore, I don't care if you are or are not insecure about your own ideals and stance..it doesn't matter to me...so stop trying to create the persona that YOU KNOW ME SO WELL and that you can define me...O. K.??
There are real problems in this world and on these shores that require real solutions....not confusing dialogue.
Was going to say... Thought most were complaining about not being able to pay their bills. How much could there be in their accounts.
That's kind of a problem that I see here - Lots of demands, not much leverage.
Yes, exactly. People with leverage, like union strikers and hijackers, are entitled to "demands". Unemployed people can't "demand" anything, because what are they going to do if they don't get what they want? Continue to be unemployed? Okay!
TechJunkie I fully agree. shouting is the language of the weak.
You are quoting ignorant rhetoric from your cronies. Go back to the Oracle and see if you can sustain it for the next 10 years.
Everyone is soon to be unemployed in this country. Who do you think is going to keep bailing you all out???
The economic system is based upon the faith of the people in it.
Now, watch while this faith dissipates and see what happens to your butts!!!
No amount of rhetoric or discussion can change what has already been put into motion. If yu don't believe what you are seeing, then you are in for a whirlwind of disappointment in a couple of years! Good luck.
I'm pretty sure that I'm the origin of the phrase, "demands are for children, union strikers, and hijackers", so I'm quoting myself. People are confusing the words "demands", "issues", and "positions". People here are talking about their positions on issues and referring to them as "demands". And then your opponents are using the word "demands" against you, comparing you to children, union strikers, and hijackers.
It's definitely not true that "everybody" is going to be unemployed soon. The unemployment rate right now is only about four percent for people with college degrees.
So, you want to remain in a dream world?
No one believed 9/11 would happen either!!!
Who truly is the child here???
Credit unions are for profit organizations. If you can't afford a debit card. Don't have one.
I did it! I took my $150 out of B of A. They are fucked now! I'm getting a new tatoo! Wohoo.
Although I'm all in favor of taking down today's ineffective and inefficient Top 10% Management Group of Business & Government, there's only one way to do it – by fighting bankers as bankers ourselves. Consequently, I have posted a 1-page Summary of the Strategic Legal Policies, Organizational Operating Structures, and Tactical Investment Procedures necessary to do this at:
http://getsatisfaction.com/americanselect/topics/on_strategic_legal_policy_organizational_operational_structures_tactical_investment_procedures
Join
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StrategicInternationalSystems/
if you want to support a Presidential Candidate – myself – at AmericansElect.org in support of the above bank-focused platform.