Here at Freelancers Union we heart mutualism - people coming together to collectively solve the problems they face. Applied to the banking sector, it means we really heart credit unions. Credit unions are cooperatively-owned financial institutions that, unlike conventional banks, are not-for-profit institutions. This enables credit unions to prioritize the needs of their members, not their profit margins. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who are thinking about changing the way we do business. Paralleling the Occupy Wall Street movement, November 5th has been proclaimed “Bank Transfer Day.” Bank Transfer Day encourages citizens throughout the U.S. to move their money from “too big to fail” banks to local credit unions. Energy leading up to the 5th has been building, with nearly 70,000 RSVPs already on its facebook event page, and the effort has drawn national media coverage from Time magazine, Reuters, ABC news and more. If you’re interested in joining a credit union, you can take these five steps to participate in Bank Transfer Day: 1) Research your local credit union options 2) Open an account with the one that best suits your needs 3) Cancel all automatic withdrawals and deposits 4) Transfer your funds to the new account 5) Follow your bank's procedures to close your account before 11/05 Here are a few of resources to learn more: National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions Our local credit union, Brooklyn Cooperative Credit Union Find a credit union near you and tell us, will you be transferring your bank? Image courtesy of Fibers.com