Banks and credit unions have been competing against each other for a long time, but NAFCU’s newest digital advertising campaign is looking to take the fight straight to the biggest banks and show how much their influence hurts American consumers. It goes by the name “Stop Big Bank Bullies,” and right when you visit their website, you can very quickly tell that the tone they are going for is not bright and happy-go-lucky, and the accompanying short video is equally serious with pictures of white men in suits throughout (which is to be expected with this sort of campaign).

My First Impression

NAFCU wants to make it obvious that America’s big banks are villains who are out to take advantage of consumers to line their own pockets, and let’s be honest, we’ve seen quite a few news stories in recent years that have highlighted their naughty behavior. For example, remember the Wells Fargo Account Scandal of 2016? In case you did forget, here’s a quick refresher: over several years, Wells Fargo created dozens of fraudulent accounts to issue credit cards and sign customers up for online banking services without those customers’ consent. The victims of the scam only found out about the fake accounts when they started accumulating fees they couldn’t account for.

Community-Based Credit Unions Are Being Targeted

So yeah, big banks have been involved in shady activities in the past, but now, according to NAFCU, they are hoping to take down community-based credit unions. The ‘Stop Big Bank Bullies’ website goes on to state that banks are trying to do this even though they are earning a lot of money and being fined for their unethical practices. A few of the stats they list include:

1.     Big banks have been fined $243 billion dollars in the last 15 years.

2.     The 100 largest banks earn as much in one month as the entire credit union industry earns in one year.

3.     The 10 largest banks spent $100 billion in one year buying back shares of their own stock.

With all that in mind, just how are big banks planning to snuff out credit unions? The answer is a fairly obvious one: lobbying Congress. According to a NAFCU Newsroom article, banks have launched multiple lobbying campaigns to have credit unions’ tax exemption status removed. Without the tax-exempt status, credit unions would not be able to provide members with the lower fees and better rates they have come to know them by. Additionally, it would impact credit unions’ ability to serve the communities where they reside, especially if the credit union is in a place that is financially underserved. As NAFCU’s President and CEO Dan Berger went on to state, the attacks on credit unions need to stop.

“It’s time for banks to be held accountable; their bad behavior has been overlooked for far too long. Consumers have the power to stop these bullies by leaving their bank and joining a credit union. Credit unions put their 127 million consumers first and provide better quality and more affordable financial products and services. At a time when financial services are needed most, banks abandoned countless underserved communities resulting in a sprawl of banking deserts across our nation.”

How Can The ‘Bullies’ Be Stopped?

Consumers switching to credit unions would certainly send a message to the big banks, but NAFCU’s campaign also suggests another legislative step: a refreshed and modern Glass-Steagall Act. The first version of this act was originally passed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt back in 1933, and back then it was heavily opposed by the traditional banks. Then in 1999, Bill Clinton signed a law that removed Glass-Stegall’s restrictions against affiliations between commercial and investment banks, which in retrospect probably wasn’t the best move as many now say that decision helped contribute to the Great Recession in 2008.

NAFCU has proposed that a modernized Glass-Steagall Act would restore the separation between commercial and investment banking, and in turn reduce the impact of ‘too big to fail’ banking operations. While there have been efforts from both the House and Senate to get a 21st century Glass-Steagall Act through Congress in the past, no such legislation has been passed as of writing this.

Will The Bullies Be Stopped?

“Stop Big Bank Bullies” has only just begun, so it’s hard to say how successful NAFCU’s latest awareness campaign will be. However, if it does become successful and the laws do change, it would mean both credit unions and American consumers would be better protected from the more malicious actions of the big banks. Personally, I think this campaign has a lot of promise, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get the message out to those who need to hear it most.