Via Occupy Tallahassee.
Well, I thought I'd wait until November 5th (today), Bank Transfer Day, to actually transfer money from my big bank to Prosper, the leading peer to peer lending marketplace. Turns out it isn't that simple. And seems others are figuring that out too, like my friend Liz McLellan of Hyperlocavore who noted on Shareable's Facebook wall that her bank is closed today.
My plan was to electronically transfer some of our money from Wells Fargo to Prosper this morning. I had already loaned out money on LendingClub, and so far so good - no defaults, only one late payment, and we've earned around $300 in interest since March. I wanted to diversify platforms and try out Prosper.
I should have known from my LendingClub experience that it takes a few days to transfer money. Once you register, they withdraw a small, arbitrary amount from the bank account you're sending money a few days later. Then you're supposed to report back to the lending site with the amount withdrawn from the originating bank to verify that you're actually the account holder. It's a smart way to verify, but it can take a week.
Once I was reminded of this, I was still determined to participate in Bank Transfer Day, so I clicked over to LendingClub to invest a token amount until my Prosper account was funded. That still didn't work. Even though I already have a LendingClub account, it will take a few days for additional money to show up at LendingClub.
So it seems Bank Transfer Day has turned into Bank Transfer Week. And we'll take it beyond a week until all our money is out of institutions too big to fail and in institutions too worthy to fail. If you've had a similar experience today, I hope you stick with it too.
Check here for ideas about how to put your money to work for good.
Comments
Seth Schneider wrote on 11.05.11, 8:45pm:
I'm heartened by this news about credit unions:
"[C]redit unions say they have added more than 650,000 members and $4.5 billion in new deposits in the past month [October 2011]. That's 50,000 more new accounts than for all of 2010."
This is from a USA Today blog post yesterday: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/11/credit-u...
Bonju Patten wrote on 11.06.11, 8:02am:
Listen, if you're a part of the big banks all you have to do is take your money out of high interest (for the bank) loans where they make a lot of money. If people continue to take their money out of big banks and into small banks and credit unions - those entities will become the monsters and corrupt and you will be in that same boat you are in now.
Just use less of what the big banks have to offer - they will shut down those departments and stop growing.
Lastly, I think it's time to march on Washington - really march on DC because we have had enough. WE ARE THE CHANGE WE SEEK.
Jesse wrote on 11.06.11, 9:13am:
Be the change you seek - that's what this is all about, right?
When I got back to the states last year and went about looking for a new bank, I started with some online only options. Then I found out that Ally is just GMAC in new clothes. So I ended up going with a local credit union and have been nothing but happy with them.
That week delay in setting up new transfer accounts is a bit irritating in the days of instant everything. The only way to make the process take a day would be to walk in and close the bank account, then walk into a credit union and start a new one with the balance check from the bank...of course doing all that on Saturday can present logistic problems as noted...
Beth Buczynski wrote on 11.07.11, 12:40pm:
Most credit unions are non-profits, right? Doesn't that make it fundamentally impossible for them to morph into the same type of monsters as the big banks?
Seth Schneider wrote on 11.07.11, 1:37pm:
@Beth I agree that it's highly unlikely that credit unions could morph into the same monsters as the big banks.
That said, credit unions are democratic structures with volunteer boards elected by their members. While these structures give the members the opportunity to be represented by accountable leaders, those conditions will only be realized to the extent that credit union members are engaged in that democratic effort.
For example, one of the credit unions I belong to has a proxy ballot that allows the board to vote on my behalf. With proxy voting, there is the possibility that over the long run the board could make bad decisions which would have been approved by nothing more than proxy votes by "absentee" members.
So even if credit unions don't turn into giant monsters, we -- as members -- need to make sure that they do the right thing by staying true to their missions and making decisions in the best interest of the membership.
Full disclosure: Do what I say, not what I do. ;-) I'm one of those credit union members who is not (yet) engaged in the democratic process of my credit union.
Beth Buczynski wrote on 11.07.11, 1:50pm:
Good points Seth! The community, whether it's a single SU or an entire nation, is only as strong as the members that participate in it! While I knew that CUs invest more $ into the local community, I only recently realized members can play such an active part in determining these decisions. I'm with in you on the not "yet" engaged part!
We can call it Bank Transfer Year, far as I'm concerned. I'm for encouraging people to transfer, no matter how long it takes, and people should take their time and do it thoughtfully. Thanks for the suggestions on community-driven financial alternatives. And I had not heard of Prosper, so thanks for that.