By transferring your money to an ethical bank, you can make a change to the financial system.
A group of activists have been holding underground meetings in Old Street, London. They’ve been plotting the next big campaign to reform finance after OccupyLSX. I was invited to see what they were up to, and it looks like they’ve got funding, contacts and a sound strategy. Now that bankers’ bonus season is finally upon us, they are set to launch.
The campaign is called Move Your Money. The clue is in the name. Imported from the US, activists are calling on the public to transfer their cash from large, casino banks to more ethical alternatives like mutuals, credit unions and ethical banks. Off the record they say they have some high profile endorsements, but we’ll have to wait until the formal launch to find out names. They want a collective shift of assets from institutions that pay large bonuses, take huge gambles and make unethical investments to those that offer something better. Almost everyone has a bank account, so everyone has a stake.
The original campaign continues to send shivers down the backs of irresponsible bank managers in the US, as consumers keep moving their money from Wall Street to Main Street. Originally started by Ariana Huffington in 2009, a national Move Your Money Day led to some 40,000 new accounts being created last November 5th, according to the US Credit Union National Association. Meanwhile the campaign’s video has got some 600,000 views and its website has twenty-five pages of press links.
A new holding website that went up earlier today confirms that this campaign is now coming to the UK. Activists say they have raised several thousand pounds from various undisclosed funders, enabling them to pay at least one campaigner to work on the project full-time. They plan to start revealing high profile supporters before they ask the public to transfer their cash during a “month of action” in March. We can expect high street stunts and public education events around the country.
There are at least three reasons why this is a highly strategic campaign.
First, it is wonderfully populist. It’s a campaign that goes beyond left and right and — given it’s based on freedom of choice and information — it’s completely compatible with capitalism. It’s not an anarchic call to bring down the banks or score political points, it’s about education, personal responsibility and collective action.
UK Uncut and OccupyLSX have a reasonably good reputation, but they remain small groups who punched above their weight because of daring action and a hungry press. In contrast, this campaign will be judged on just how many people they can get to shift their money, forcing them to reach out beyond the usual suspects.
Second, it is tangible. Most people feel that they are living at the mercy of markets they cannot control. We’ve been told the banks are too big to fail, but politicians don’t seem to be building a secure alternative. For many, the Vickers report doesn’t go far enough. But this campaign gives people something they can do. By transferring your money, you can actually protect yourself as an individual, and reclaim your sense of agency.
Third, it is effective. Through a co-coordinated campaign, people aren’t just protecting their own assets as individuals, but sending a message to banks and politicians as a collective. It might also lead the City to think a bit harder about bonus season. Move Your Money campaigners will be looking to establish themselves as the “go to” people in the media to get a reaction to these rewards. The more disproportionate bonuses are, the more support for this campaign is going to grow.
Watching politicians respond to this campaign will be interesting. Labour will be justifiably jittery about coming out against any particular banks after the misrepresentation of Ed Miliband’s conference speech. But they should publicly and whole-heartedly support the principle of giving more information to consumers to move their money where they see fit.
The problem with OccupyLSX was that people and politicians didn’t want to be seen as supporting a bunch of niche activists. If the Move Your Money campaign can become a truly popular movement, it will be harder to ignore. In fitting contrast to the financial system, the incentives of this campaign are truly well aligned.
Rowenna Davis is a journalist and author of Tangled up in Blue: Blue Labour and the Struggle for Labour’s Soul, published by Ruskin Publishing at £8.99. She is also a Labour councillor.
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