Detroit News Spotlights MI Credit Unions On Front Page (Misc News: October 31, 2011)
Disgruntled bank customers turning to credit unions: it’s the story that continues to dominate the media spotlight. Monday’s edition of The Detroit News features a front-page article about the fee-fueled “run from the banks” driving more and more Michigan consumers to credit unions.
The article tells the stories of several “angry depositors” who left their banks over some of the newly announced fees, such as Bank of America’s plan to charge $5 a month to most account holders using debit cards.
45-year-old James Dietz of Farmington Hills told the paper his move from TCF Bank to Co-Op Services CU in Livonia was motivated by anger at the banking industry as a whole.
"I wasn't happy," said Dietz. "Not just with TCF but with all banks in general, for the fees they're starting to charge, just for itty bitty things. It's like they're telling me they don't want to do business with me, that I'm not worth their time."
MCUL & Affiliates CEO David Adams weighed in on the bigger picture driving people to explore credit unions.
U.S. consumers save $6.3 billion a year thanks to those lower fees and rates, said David Adams, president and CEO of the Michigan Credit Union League. "That's $69 per person, on average, but in Michigan, which has 4.5 million credit union members, the savings are about $200 million a year, which is $81 per person."
The article notes that some credit unions are running promotions to bring in new members, while others are simply letting the banks and their fees do the work for them.
Click here to view The Detroit News article.
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