Pacific Marine Credit Union Seeing an Increase of Members

While active duty military members have not been a vocal part of the Occupy Oceanside movement, military families have followed one recent trend — switching to credit unions.

A voluntary initiative related to the Occupy Wall Street movement called for bank customers to switch to credit unions by Nov. 5, for Bank Transfer Day.   — which has served area Marines, sailors and civilians since 1952 — has seen a significant increase in new members in the past month, said Brad Smith, vice president for strategic development. But he doesn’t attribute it to the national movement.

“It had something to do with all the fee structures from all the big banks,” he said. “People were looking to move away from the big banks looking to charge additional fees.”

In September, Bank of America announcedfor their debit card users, but later .

While military members have been attracted to national banks because of convenience, he said, modern technologies and national credit union partnerships have made it easier for service members to use the community institutions.

“Military families are pretty savvy in being able to move accounts,” he said. “They can do pretty much anything online.”