Bank Transfer Day is Brainchild of Echo Park Gallerist

Saturday, Nov. 5, is Bank Transfer Day.

Around the world, irate customers are being asked to move their money from so-called "faceless" for-profit banks to smaller, community-oriented ones like credit unions and regional banks.

It's the stuff of legend, but the now global day of action began as a musing on Facebook.

ECHO PARK GALLERIST STARTED BANK TRANSFER DAY

Echo Park resident Kristen Christian was that muser, says the Los Angeles Times.

The owner of an independent art gallery, she was angry about the new $5 a month ATM fee Bank of America was imposing.

On Oct. 4, she urged her Facebook friends to leave corporate banks and outrageous fees behind, and created a Facebook "event" to spread the word.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Within 72 hours, nearly 8,000 had pledged to join her.

OCCUPY MOVEMENT EMBRACES IDEA

The event was widely posted on Occupy Movement walls and made Christian a bit of a media star.

As of late Friday night, almost 81,000 people had pledged to make the move on the Bank Transfer Day Facebook event, with nearly 48,000 "liking" the Transfer Day Facebook page.

Christian herself has made that move already. The Christian Science Monitor says that she's got her money in two different credit unions in advance of Nov. 5.

And she's probably not the only one: A trade organization representing the credit unions estimates the nonprofit cooperatives have picked up about 650,000 new customers nationally.

There's no credit union based in Echo Park, though union members may have that option.

COMMUNITY BANKS, CREDIT UNIONS ALTERNATIVES

But here's an idea: Los Angeles National Bank.

Based in Buena Park, the bank has just four branches: one in Echo Park, in the Citibank building on Sunset Boulevard, just behind the new Pazzo Gelato.

Branch manager Juan Sandoval is a big friend of the community and is active in the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce.

The bank regularly supports local events and institutions with donations and free checking accounts.

When Echo Park Patch stopped by this week, we learned the bank hadn't yet opened an unusually high number of accounts.

But that could change at any time.

Occupy Los Angeles organizers--who Christian says are not affiliated with Bank Transfer Day--are also rallying in downtown L.A. on Saturday, with a march and speeches, including former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

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