Big Bank Protest, Take 2

The malcontent toward big banks continues to brew among consumers, with its latest manifestation slated to take place on December 11th.

Dubbed Balance Transfer Day, the day will take a stab at swaying consumers nationwide to ditch their high credit card rates and opt for something, well, better. The movement is led by Music For Change: Financial Literacy Initiative.

On Balance Transfer Day’s Facebook page, the organizers encourage consumers to say adieus to high interest rate credit cards and replace them with lower rate loans. The movement’s manifesto, in part, reads:

Across the board banks receive millions of dollars from the federal government at interest rates as low as 0% or in some cases they do not have to repay borrowed funds at all! (Think 2008 Bailout.) Yet, we the consumers are charged costly fees and interest rates of 15% and more for borrowing money from banks. Essentially, banks are using our own tax money to make even more money off of us. So why don’t we beat the banks at their own game and demand the same 0% interest rate that they receive from the federal government? 

Certainly, inspiring consumers to shop around for the best loan rates seems like a noble enough objective to us, especially as credit card usage in America starts to slightly tick up. But, the ugly truth is that consumers may not find better cards to switch to since the consumer’s credit score remains the main underwriting criteria for new credit card loans. For many recession-weary consumers, card options are few and far between. Though Bank Transfer Day appeared to be a success of sorts, this new big bank rebellion seems like it will be a struggle to take off with Americans because of limited opportunities.