THERE’S JUST NO STOPPING AN IDEA WHOSE TIME STILL HASN’T COME

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel chronicles the relentless rise of credit unions:

Florida’s credit unions added thousands of new members in the past quarter, pushing membership beyond 4.68 million for the first time, according to the League of Southeastern Credit Unions. . . .

Many Floridians are turning to credit unions, because the not-for-profit cooperatives tend to charge lower fees and deliver more personal service than commercial banks do, studies show.

The member-owned co-ops also are aggressively marketing their services to capitalize on consumer dissatisfaction with mounting fees at many big banks, analysts said. [Emph. added]

Thousands of new members! Take that, commercial banks! And so one legacy of the Occupy movement lives on. . . . Wait, hang on a minute. . . . It turns out that the 43,000 members credit unions gained in Florida last quarter works out to an annualized increase of-are you ready?- 3.7%. Credit union assets in Florida rose by 2.7% annualized over the same period. Nationally, membership and assets rose by 2.8% and 2.4% annualized, respectively. If this is what happens as a result of your “aggressive marketing,” you’d better have a Plan B. . .