Credit Unions & The Millennial Generation: A Partnership For Prosperity
by: Kristen Christian, Founder, Bank Transfer Day
Prior to my involvement with the Bank Transfer Day movement, I was a customer of a corporate banking institution for thirteen years. When Bank of America announced a new policy requiring customers with less than $20,000 in combined accounts to pay a $5 monthly fee for debit card access, my discontent turned to disgust. I couldn’t personally support a company that would choose to target impoverished and working class Americans. Researching alternatives, I stumbled upon an unfortunately well kept secret: not-for-profit credit unions utilize profits from members’ banking business to support charities that directly impact members of the communities they serve and stimulate local economies by offering low interest rate loans to individuals and small businesses. Consumers still have access to the modern conveniences corporate banks offer: secure online and mobile banking, debit card access, and convenient ATM locations, but are able to have a direct, positive impact on their own local communities.
On October 4th 2011 I invited 500 of my friends to a Facebook event I created entitled Bank Transfer Day, which outlined the information I’d researched along with my conclusion that because of their inherent socially conscious business model, credit unions are the best option for conscious consumers. I recommended that my friends not gather in groups to cause disruption within banks, but handle account closure in the same manner said accounts were opened: independently, with respect and without signage.
Within three days, the Bank Transfer Day event had 10,000 “attending” RSVPs. The following morning I received a call from Jen Doll, a reporter for the Village Voice. I stuttered asking her to repeat which organization she was calling with. Even when she’d repeated herself, I thought, “Why would the Village Voice want to talk to me?” This simple Facebook event incidentally became the first consumer movement in America coordinated entirely via social media.
For better or worse, my life was turned completely upside down within a month. Responding to hundreds of private citizens and reporters would soon become a regular occurrence. Many people have asked why I didn’t delete the Facebook event and return to a “normal” life. Despite any small sacrifices of comfort or privacy, I couldn’t pass up a single opportunity to share this powerful message that offers consumers an opportunity to take action toward setting our nation on a path toward economic recovery.
Supporters have reminded me daily that this issue is supported unanimously across the political spectrum. In mid October, while riding with a friend back from LAX, I received a message from an 80-year-old Wisconsin woman who identified herself as a member of the Tea Party. She thanked me for my efforts, promised to keep me in her prayers, and said that my family had done a terrific job of molding me into a fine and upstanding member of society. With tears in my eyes, I turned to look out the window just as we were passing the Bank of America and Wells Fargo buildings towering over the freeway. I was startled before it dawned on me: in a capitalist society, consumers have the freedom of choice to support businesses whose values echo their own.
Throughout this experience, I’ve been able to share the values I learned growing up on the Central Coast of California through national and international outlets including: ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, Dan Rather Reports, Russia Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. The response from American consumers was deafening, with the Credit Union National Association reporting 600,000 new credit union members attributed, in large part, to Bank Transfer Day.
A crucial component that made this feat possible was timing and can be explained by The Howe-Strauss Theory of Generation Cycles. This theory suggests that people in a particular age group will experience the same historical events and societal influences, and therefore tend to share a distinct set of values, aspirations, communication style and overall tone. The Millennial Generation, born between 1982 and 2000 is identified as a civic generation. Individuals in this age group spent their formative years in a time of social unraveling as our society battled over national-level issues like abortion, gun control and separation of church and state. Despite this struggle, an interesting societal shift occurred shortly before the eldest of this generation were born, marked by a significant drop in abortion rates and an increase in books published on the topic of improved parenting skills. During their formative years Millennials were submerged in an ocean of information through not only traditional schooling, but also educational television programming and video games. As a Millennial, my earliest childhood memories are watching television programs like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers and Reading Rainbow. Even the theme songs of these programs inspired in me a sense of community and unfaltering optimism that I could accomplish any task to which I set my mind. Electronic games like Oregon Trail and the original SimCity encouraged critical thinking and problem solving while continuing the community-oriented theme.
In order to understand how this societal tone has influenced the aspirations of the Millennial Generation, we need only look to the last civic generation. With the Prohibition and World War I serving as catalysts for a similar social unraveling, a societal shift occurred just before the turn of the last century as our nation focused on education and empowerment of the GI Generation. In the decade leading up to this generation’s arrival, Massachusetts and New York initiated the first compulsory education acts, followed by the first public junior college opening in Illinois and the founding of the first afterschool care program. In addition, the respective foundings of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts instilled in these young men & women an appreciation for cooperation and hard work. The GI Generation would go on to produce seven United States Presidents, including John F. Kennedy, survive the Great Depression, win World War II, put a man on the moon, and implement legislature to de-segregate public schools. Empowered by our society during their formative years, the GI Generation would become what Tom Brokaw would later refer to as “the greatest generation any society has ever produced.”
The tasks that lay ahead are truly monumental, but the tools provided to the Millennial Generation by those who came before will certainly empower us to succeed in fostering community cooperation and technological advancement. There’s no doubt that social media will continue to play a vital role for this civic-minded generation. After all, social media has connected people across the globe in ways previous generations never dared to dream. While previous generations have had to rely on actual footwork to promote an idea, this new form of human interaction offers the opportunity to communicate our every desire, aversion, hope and fear with a few keystrokes. I would like to welcome you to the dawning of a new era: the rise of the new civic generation in the digital age.
Kristen Christian is a Los Angeles based entrepreneur and the founder of the Bank Transfer Day movement. With a perspective based in activism, she was raised with an understanding that cooperation and respect are crucial for communities to thrive. From serving their members to serving the communities they are a part of, credit unions follow a similar path. Social media offered the opportunity for a global platform, which resulted in more than 600,000 new credit union members nationwide in the month leading up to November 5th. www.facebook.com/btd.organizer
