Estimated 600,000 Consumers Switched Due to Bank Transfer Day

Javelin research finds that consumers were also driven by outrage over new fees.

An estimated 600,000 consumers switched financial institutions as part of last fall's much-publicized Bank Transfer Day, according to a survey conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research.

Javelin's research estimated that 5.6 million U.S. adults with a banking relationship changed banks in the past 90 days. Of those, 610,000 -- or 11 percent -- cited Bank Transfer Day as their reason for moving their accounts from a large to a small institution.

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In addition to the 11 percent who specifically cited Bank Transfer Day as the reason for switching banks, 26 percent stated that they switched because their bank charged too many fees.

Using a questionnaire designed independently by Javelin Strategy & Research, the Bank Transfer Day findings are culled from an online survey of 5,878 consumers fielded in December. According to Javelin, while Bank Transfer Day didn't lead to the mass exodus some had feared, it still had a more measurable impact than previous similarly-positioned movements, such as Huffington Post's 2008 MoveYourMoneyProject.org.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio