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I finally moved my money from BoA on Friday.
I had meant to do it a year ago, when news of the big "CEO bonuses" broke, but I got lazy, decided it would be too big of a chore, and forgot about it.
But when news of the "$5 Debit Card Fee" broke, I finally got off my duff and made the move EVEN THOUGH I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY THAT THE NEW FEE WOULD NOT HAVE APPLIED TO ME. I did it because it was the right thing to do.
The new bank directly across the street from my BoA is a small(ish) local community bank. I checked them out online, and read they donate $1million to the local community every year. Plus they had online banking (which I use extensively), and don't charge a fee to use their Visa Debit Card. I opened an account there the next morning. I had to wait for any outstanding bills/payments to clear at BoA first, but Yesterday/Friday I made the move.
I had to go through an "agent" to close my account, a young guy about 10 years my junior in his mid 30's asked me why I was closing my account:
"I'm moving my money to a more socially responsible bank", I told him.
That must of been a new one to him. He laughed, smiled broadly, and asked (deliberately?) incorrectly: "A more 'sociable' bank?"
"Socially... Socially responsible bank", I corrected him.
"You know we're not the only ones who were bailed out?", trying to guess my reasoning.
"I know. I'm just tired of turning on the news every day and hearing another 'horror story' about Bank of America."
"Where are you moving your money to?"
"The bank right across the street", which I pointed to and named by name.
"You know they merged with XYZ?" (I missed the name of the major bank he cited, but a quick Google search when I got home found it was a lie.)
"I'll look into it.", I replied, smiling.
And that was it. I turned in my Debit card, picked up a Cashiers check for the full amount, left and deposited it across the street.
The hardest, most time-consuming part of the entire process was remembering what companies I had set up "automatic bill pay" with (like my ISP and PayPal), visit their websites and update my Debit Card info. THAT was the extent of my difficulty. (It might of been more trouble if I had CD's or a credit card.)
Should of done it 12 months ago.
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