Credit unions across the land are “seizing this marketing opportunity”, as CUNA officials put it Tuesday, to take advantage of the favorable industry media coverage following the announcement of Bank of America’s $5 monthly debit fee.

There also appeared to be stepped-up online chatter—even spreading internationally on blogs and Twitter—about the so-called “Bank Transfer Day” Nov. 5 when consumers are exhorted to move their funds from large banks to CUs and community banks.

“Credit unions are certainly making the most of this new awareness in the media,” declared Mark Wolff , senior vice president-communications, as the trade group counted the number of CUs reporting new account openings and surges at CU call centers from Boston to San Francisco.  

CUNA said traffic to its www.asmarterchoice.org site has “jumped eightfold since the Bank of America announcement” two weeks ago. CUNA said it also already counted “2,000 friend requests” on an added Facebook posting linked to “asmarterchoice.”

Meanwhile, one Irish blog hit on “Bank Transfer Day”, commenting on how the British Broadcasting Co. was covering the “Occupy Wall Street” protest and how it led a Los Angeles art dealer to reportedly hatch “Bank Transfer Day.”

"Why wait?" said NAFCU spokesman Patty Briotta. "We encourage people to explore their options and vote with their money every day and join a credit union.  We are greatly encouraged by the events of the last week and they have helped us raise awareness of the benefits of credit union membership."

She said that CULookup.com also has seen a "great upsurge in traffic.”