I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A survey by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) found that there are at least 5,100 new credit union accounts in New Mexico because of Bank Transfer Day. The New Mexico Business Weekly reports:
The number of new accounts in the state could be higher because CUNA didn’t survey every credit union, said Credit Union Association of New Mexico spokeswoman Mary Beth King.
The amount of deposit transfers to credit unions was not immediately available, King said. She said the CUNA calculates that each new credit union account amounts to an average of $36.
Wells Fargo and Bank of America both indicated earlier in the year that they would start charging new fees in the state, which appears to have prompted the initial spike in credit union accounts. Bank of America has since said it will not be charging its proposed fee on debit card holders.
The nationwide survey found that 40,000 new credit union accounts were started nationwide on November 5, the day selected to be Bank Transfer Day by Los Angeles art gallery owner Kristen Christian. At least 650,000 new credit union accounts, valued at about $4.5 billion, were opened in the month leading up to Bank Transfer Day, the survey found.
Bill Cheney, the President and CEO of CUNA, said in a statement that starting on September 29, the day Bank of America announced its new fee, new credit union membership averaged at about 20,000 a day.
“Many obviously did not wait for a specific day,” said Cheney, “but took the time to make the change to a credit union in a deliberate manner. Consumers made a smarter choice.”
Christian chose the date for Bank Transfer Day as an homage to Guy Fawkes Night, which is a traditional celebration of anti-authority sentiment in Britain, and was named for a man who attempted to blow up Parliament in the 17th Century.
