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Move Your Money and Bank Local

By Becky McCray

Move Your Money, bank local, invest local.

April is traditionally Move Your Money Month in the shop local community. Bank Local and Invest Local are the financial parts of the shop local movement.

In 2023, the timing couldn’t be more noticeable. High profile bank failures, lots of talk about other banks in trouble, and a serious debate about the financial system (AGAIN!) make Moving Your Money to a local bank more attractive than ever.

Local banks still exist in many small towns, and some of you have multiple local bank choices. If you don’t have a locally owned bank, regional banks may be a better bet than the giant banks.

If you have concerns, talk to your local or regional bankers. Some like Jill Castilla of Citizens Bank in Edmond, Oklahoma, (admittedly in a suburb, but still a great role model) go to great lengths to be accessible to their community.

Find your bankers online or at community events. Ask questions about how they manage the kind of risks that brought down big banks recently. See what you think of the answers. (Hint: they’re much more careful.)

Move Your Money

Really, it’s not that hard to move your money to a local bank. You’ll likely get all the important services you’ve come to rely on like mobile deposit and online bill pay. Even the bank in my tiny community of 30 people is online-savvy. (Shout out to Hopeton State Bank: Shaped by the past, Focused on the future.)

Need the how-to-move list? Search or ask your favorite AI for a list of steps to move to a new bank.

How to move your money: Open Your New Account at Your Chosen Community Bank or Credit UnionOrder New Checks and an ATM/Debit Card. Ask Your Employer to Reroute Your Direct Deposit. Contact Companies that Direct-Deposit Your Account. Set-up Online Bill Pay for Your New Account. Close Your Old Account. Enjoy Your New Local Banking Relationship!

Source: People First Economy

Run a Move Your Money campaign in your community

Join the Move Your Money movement at AMIBA (American Independent Business Alliance). They’ll email you with resources throughout April. Check the Top 5 Reasons to Choose a Community Bank.

Get inspired by the resources page from The Local Crowd in Monadnock, NH: Move Your Money

Advocate for change with the policy-level info from the ILSR on Community Banking.

Discover more about local banking and local investing

Beyond shop local is bank local, 2010

Local investing could solve several rural business problems, 2011

Local investing will change the face of small towns, 2012

Small Town banks know lots that big banks don’t, Small Town Rules, 2013

Community banking is critical to small towns, audio, more from Jill Castilla (mentioned above), 2014

Economic self defense for small towns, 2020

Subscribe to Small Biz Survival

Will you run a Move Your Money campaign? Send us your small town business stories, and let us know what questions you have.

  • About the Author
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Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

www.beckymccray.com
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March 22, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, finance, rural, shop local, survivors Tagged With: AMIBA, Bank Local, banking, economic development, local investing, Move Your Money, shop local

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  1. Move Your Money and Bank Local - Rochester News Dispatch says:
    March 22, 2023 at 5:04 pm

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