Missouri's largest credit union, the $1.8 billion CommunityAmerica of Kansas City said Thursday it has reaped $7.5 million in new loan business and 2,600 new accounts since Sept. 29, when Bank of America announced its now-canceled plans to impose debit fees.
"I'd call that a pretty good increase since this all began," declared Dennis Pierce, president/CEO of the 167,000-member CommunityAmerica.
With Bank Transfer Day now past, Pierce said the increased traffic is certain to continue despite the big bank reversal on the fees, and so "we'll get more loan business."
Like other CEOs who saw lighter Bank Transfer Day activity in their areas, Pierce said uneven BTD results across can be traced to where Bank of America and other large banks have a major presence.
"In Missouri, Bank of America has 20-25% of the market so for us this was an outstanding opportunity to get out our message," Pierce said, adding that he was delighted at the "buzz that did occur."
All of CommunityAmerica's 32 branches in Missouri and Kansas had extended hours on Saturday and 144 members signed up that day, Pierce said.
The Kansas City CEO said also the Bank Transfer Day promotion fit conveniently into the "Escape Your Bank" campaign CommunityAmerica had already started.
Pierce also acknowledged that his CU like others in Missouri and Kansas had been invited to show up at the Occupy Rally in Kansas City but chose to pass.
"We were aware of the demonstrations but we did not want to confuse our message with that of Occupy," he said.
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