Washington — A small but growing number of religious communities across the country are removing their money from Wall Street banks to protest what they see as unfair mortgage foreclosures and unwillingness to lend to small businesses.
The New Bottom Line coalition of congregations, community organizations, labor unions and individuals is promoting a “Move Our Money” campaign with the goal of shifting $1 billion from big banks to community banks and credit unions.
The Move Our Money website reports that $55 million had been moved as part of the campaign as of Nov. 28, but that figure pales in comparison to the big banks’ trillions in total assets.
The campaign singles out Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase for not doing enough to provide home loan modifications to help guard against foreclosure; cramping down on small business lending; and escaping federal taxes by parking assets overseas, even after each bank received billions of taxpayer dollars in federal bailouts. The Credit Union National Association reported that 700,000 people joined credit unions nationwide in the month before Bank Transfer Day — more than the 600,000 who joined in all of 2010. The Bank Transfer Day movement, a popular movement that called for people to move their money from banks to credit unions on Nov. 5, claims credit for this uptick. (TAB)
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