the actual bank branch.

You guys are going about this entirely the wrong way. I think Jamie Dimon is one of the worst people alive, and directly contributed to the unemployment of 3,400 people in this region alone. Block his path. Disrupt his speech. Don’t keep people from withrawing their own money. Quit blocking the ATMs already. (What if someone wanted to remove their entire balance from those ATMs so they could close their account?)

Yet again you are attacking the middle class under the guise of protecting it. This is the same as graffiting walls and defacing local businesses. You are just making people in the neighborhood dislike you.

Now, coming from someone who has been with a credit union for as long as they have had money to deposit anywhere (so I may be totally biased), the best form of protest against big banks is to do a run on the bank. Join BECU or another credit union if you already haven’t. Once you have, refer your friends. Grow the co-op and dump the bank. Bank runs are big big deals. A bank run led to the end of WaMu (the former largest savings bank in the country).

It’s that easy. Promote community-driven cooperative credit unions and get as many people as possible to dump the investor controlled bank.

The end.

i’m not on the up and up on banking laws so the question. Is it possible for credit unions to sign folk up on the go. Like set up a table on a corner or at a festival? I think I’ve seen this before but can’t remember? If they can maybe BECU or one of the other credit unions should do this.

Well said. This is yet another instance where the naivety of the Occupy Seattle movement is in full bloom in front of our eyes. I’d love to hear just exactly how this action furthers their cause in any shape or form? And what exactly is their cause? After reading that convoluted piece of crap statement its not really clear at all. You aren’t hurting Chase Bank, you morons, just students, middle class, and lower income joes and janes who I dunno, might need to withdraw some of their money to buy groceries or something. Idiots.

Everyone knows that millionaires use outdoor ATM machines on the Hill. Block the ATMs and you cut off all ways for an evil millionaire to get and/or use money. The only way we can restart this economy is to block ATMs.

I run a small locally owned business that manages client accounts with Chase. Today I could not do my job because of these “protestors”. The clients of my company are local small business owners that have businesses that serve Capitol Hill and thus put money directly or indirectly in the local economy. Protests like the one here on the Hill hurt small businesses like ours. We need access to our accounts; our staff need to cash paychecks at Chase (or whatever bank they choose.) We are not the target of the protest anger, why punish us by blocking access to our resources? In what interest is the protest really serving?

And I have to say, as a commercial customer of the Cap Hill Chase branch, the folks that work and manage that branch are wonderful, friendly, lovely people – many are our community members – its a shame that they are forced to absorb the anger and frustration of the protestors, especially since some of those folks are/were supportive of the protestors. (It would be really hard to continue to support a movement that attacked your workplace)

Also special love to the cops that have worked a lot of long hours away from friends and fam during these protests keeping everyone (including the protestors) safe.

JR

I constantly shake my head when I hear the rambling complaining from some of the less articulate Occupy Seattle people, but I have to disagree in this case.

Standing in front of a predatory bank and protesting gets a clear, simple message across: “CHASE IS BAD, DON’T BANK HERE!”

Disrupting access to ATM’s (I don’t know why anyone uses an ATM when you can get cash at a grocery store with the same card, but anyway…) gets lots of attention and people like us talking about it, which is a HUGE win for the cause.

I appreciate and share your compassion for the employees, cops and local businesses. However, I have to say, your company, their clients and employees should seriously consider switching to smaller banks or credit unions.

Yes, you may have a good experience in the branch, but the branch is just the friendly facade of a corporation that makes its money through analyzing people’s buying habits and preying on them when they are vulnerable. You lose your job and start buying groceries with a Chase/City/BoA credit card? They smell blood and raise your limit. You get distracted going through a divorce/illness/relocation/career change and pay a few days late? You’re carrying a high balance and they raise the rate to 30% and there isn’t jack you can do about it.

Credit unions don’t engineer their agreements and lobby for laws to make it easier to victimize their members when they are vulnerable.

If you’re reading this, I’m glad they disrupted your business and got you to wonder about why someone might want to do that.

@AbstractMonkeys:

Your argument is full of holes. By saying the banks are “doing” these things to cardholders is just a terrible argument. The cardholder is responsible for their usage… no one is forcing them to use credit for groceries or to max out to their limits. As well, one is responsible to pay their bills on time. It’s called being an adult.

Finally, people need to realize the branch employees are part of the 99%, too. They’re exactly like the protestors, well except they have jobs and are productive members of society. They’re just there to make a paycheck, just like folks at QFC or Oddfellows… Stop trying to demonize them.

You see, that’s the trouble, you don’t get to TELL people where to bank or where to put their money, this goes for small business. Out of spite, I want to open a Chase account to prove to OS and the moron protesters that in America we can STILL do what we want to in this free country. Enough already. Stop vilifying corporations and starting teaching accountability to ALL humans.

Maybe everyone you’ve ever known has been able to manage money perfectly since they were teenagers. Good for them. Just because someone doesn’t get off on balancing their checkbook down to the penny, it doesn’t make them a slacker parasite.

By the way, I don’t want to demonize Chase employees or vilify any corporation. The people I’m pissed at are the ones who tolerate their behavior, whether it’s the lobbyists they hire or you for voting with your wallet to support them.

And you’re wrong, we DO get to tell each other where to bank, and that’s a good thing.

Since when is providing thoughtful advice on how to actuallly move forward on the cause that you support hateraide?

Let’s sit back and think for a second.

If you want to do actual visible harm to a big corporate bank, you believe that yelling in front of a branch is better than promoting and referring people to credit unions (co-ops)? A national day of action is cool, but you need to actualy WORK toward your goal. You should already have an account. You should promote an actual run (like I said before). A successful run takes weeks, not one day. Especially with a bank like Chase or BofA, it would take probably 3 weeks to a month to make any sizeable impact. Also, if you refer someone, you are ACTUALLY getting them to move their account. If you tell someone to do so, they may or may not follow through. Take your friends to BECU, Verity, Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, etc and get them signed up. Do it with as many people are you can, and then encourage them to do the same thing. (Hell, if it is any incentive, at most places you will get $25 for every referral. Your friend will get $25 for signing up too.)

I can say that I hate the corporate culture all I want, but if I don’t start shopping locally, banking locally, etc (i.e. injecting money into my local economy) then all that I am doing is talking. Changes don’t just happen. You have to do things to make them happen.

This group (You aren’t a movement. You aren’t OWS.) is hurting Capitol Hill and it’s residents. I am sorry if you cannot see that and I am sorry if that hurts your feelings, but most of us who call this place…
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me can see it clearly.

Calhoun: Banks are for profit businesses. Credit unions are non-profits owned by their members. No stock to be traded and manipulated. The only profits credit unions make go to account holders as interest. Banks have to pay that interest to account holders and…. shareholders who may or may not bank their in the form of dividends. Credit unions have one less group to find money to pay out to.

Don’t confuse not-for-profit and non-profit either.

I may have confused not-for-profit with non-profit but as far as credit unions being in the business of loaning money to make profits, the profits, go to the customers with deposits at CUs, not stock traders looking for dividends who may or may not have deposits at banks.

Definitely! I have used my debit card at ATMs in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Canada.

Also, foreign transaction fees are dirt cheap, so that is nice too.