http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/thinking-about-closing-your-tbtf-bank-account
B: Cashier's cheques: How do they work?
?: Or, you know, get a debit card form a credit union... this is a political act... equating criticizing TBTF banks with some sort of a luddite tendency is on par with screaming "Communism!!!" everyone someone criticizes a private firm...
B: Using debit cards reinforces rather than changes the infrastructure that some people are trying to undermine. Cash and cash-like transactions concern the exchange of stored value alone (neglecting the clearinghouse functions on an instrument payable to 'cash'). Electronic transactions attach several information and fee components, and engage third parties that may or may not add value to the transaction.
If even 10% of the population used only cash for one month, their cumulative negative impact on banks in retail would be far greater than simply moving money out of accounts. (Also, local economies would almost immediately benefit from not having 3% of the value of each transaction go immediately to the banks, or something like a 1% reduction of total transaction costs).
What would subtracting 1% of the value of retail transactions from the finance sector (±$400,000,000,000 per year), say during the holiday buying season, look like on a balance sheet?
It's unfortunate that this common-sense solution will never be attempted since it lacks the political posturability of protests.
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