Occupy Movement Going Credit Union

It’s official--the rogue movement that likes to “stick it to the man” is going credit union. Occupy activists who have been jeering high bank fees for months and urging consumers to dump their bank are creating their own nest called Peoples Reserve Credit Union, parked in the San Francisco/Oakland area.

According to the credit union’s Facebook page, “The goal of this project is to encourage San Francisco residents, businesses, as well as nonprofit and city agencies to keep their money out of the big banks and to redistribute that money locally. Initial services will include micro-loans for the working poor and homeless, and subsidized student loans at low interest rates.”

Occupy organizers Brian McKeown and Joseph Watters are developing the credit union with the help of the city’s board of supervisors, Eric Mar and John Avalos. Originally it was reported that GLIDE Community Church was part of the creation, however GLIDE public relations spokesperson Denise Lamott said, “In fact, GLIDE is not involved in the SF Occupy's Credit Union. The folks at SF Occupy misstated the relationship and have since apologized for the mistake.”

Regardless of who is involved, the revolutionary spirit intermingling with the credit union philosophy has industry onlookers captivated. The organization is starting small with 500 members at the beginning of 2012 with the goal of increasing membership to 2,000 before the end of the year.

Additionally, Peoples Reserve plans to accumulate capital assets of $7 million through investments made by other members and/or organizations.

Initially, the credit union will open two branch locations within the Bay Area, which will be staffed with students and possibly homeless individuals, potentially creating up to 60 new part-time jobs.

In addition to the credit union initiative, but still in line with the philosophy, Peoples Reserve plans to finance and launch a food co-op large enough to support a neighborhood.

McKeown believes that Peoples Reserve seedlings may possibly create a ripple effect throughout the country. "We believe the credit union serves as a model for other financial institutions to reinvest wealth in their communities. We want to show them that there is a way to reduce the impact of large banks on the community at large, and the leakage of local funds internationally caused by the large banks, keeping the money where it belongs."

Local Financial Institution Weighs In On Occupy Credit Union

In many ways CEO Tom McGraw of First National Bank of Northern California ($730 million, South San Francisco, CA), agrees with the philosophy of big bank reduction and disseminating wealth back into the communities, however he wonders if the Occupy movement has lost its way from the original intent.

He writes in The Examiner, “One of the positives of the Occupy Wall Street movement has been in drawing attention to the nation’s largest, too big to fail banks, and how they failed their shareholders and their customers,” he writes. “If a bank is too big to fail, it’s just too big. American taxpayers should not be the lender of last resort, nor should they shoulder the enormous economic burden of rescuing these banks from the economic devastation they caused.”

While McGraw says that understands the grassroots Occupy movement, he is concerned that the initial focus may have shifted from multinational financial institution reform.

“Bay Area people should be angry,” he says. “As tent cities and encampments in Oakland and in front of the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco disappear, there is a diminishing of focus on reforming these large institutions.”

Is the Occupy movement not just going credit union but going “corporate” and abandoning their original resolve? According to recent Facebook posts, while Peoples Reserve involves Occupy SF organizers it is not an actual Occupy credit union.

The post states, “Again, we'd like to reiterate that while individual founders did come out of the Occupy movement, Peoples Reserve is not an Occupy SF bank/initiative. We are proud of Occupy SF and all that it has done so far, and with their endorsement we hope to move forward in raising the socio-economic floor in San Francisco!”

Ready to dump your big bank? Find a credit union near you today.

Additional Resources:

http://moneyland.time.com/2011/12/02/occupy-san-francisco-starts-its-own-credit-union/#ixzz1gRyQeQLd

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/12/occupy_sf_peoples_reserve_credit_union.php

http://www.examiner.com/banking-industry-in-san-francisco/stand-up-for-your-community-bank?CID=examiner_alerts_article