Can Bank Transfer Day really help the industry reach thatelusive goal of tapping the youth market in a significant way?

A Texas credit union, the $566 million Velocity Credit Union inAustin, said Friday it has proof it's happening already.

“We've noted a marked increase in a younger demographicopening checking accounts with us,” said Carol Cain, Velocity'ssenior vice president of marketing. “While previously we had only37% of our checking account members under 40, we've seen now that afull 88% of new members are under 40.”

And half of those are under 30, Cain added. She noted thatVelocity has been active in the Bank Transfer Day movement withmedia ads and a special 30-second YouTube video thatrefers to the Occupy protest.

The message on the musical video is: “You Don't Have to OccupyWall Street to Send a Message to Banks. Just Stop Sending Them YourMoney” and switch to Velocity. The video was created by an Austinagency, The Swizzle Collective, and began running Oct. 16. Cainstressed that “while we hold our more established members in veryhigh regard, it's nice to see the credit union alternative catchingon with the younger population.”

Overall, she said, 73,000-member Velocity has seen a 91% jump innew checking accounts over the same time last year “and our newaccounts opened online are up 174%.”

Velocity staffers, she said, have kept a close eye on the AustinOccupy movement at a downtown plaza which at times has beenincluded in network television roundups of the most activetent-city operations.

The Occupy participants have meetings every night, Cain said,and Velocity employees are doing “recon” on developments. Recon, she explained stands for “reconnaissance.” Cainstressed that Velocity “does not endorse” their stands “but we'renot against them—we're just completely apolitical.”

Occupy Austin, she said, “has been very active in recommendingcredit unions as an alternative, and are passing out flyers at theBank Transfer Day event planned on Saturday, where they expect anywhere from 2,000 to5,000 attendees. All credit unions seem to bebenefitting from these activities.”

Cain noted also that “the message about moving your money from abig bank to a local alternative like Velocity is nothing new forus. We've been out there for over two years with thismessage.

Velocity brought the Austin-area headlines like “Bank-FreeBanking,” “De-Bank” and “Bank Schmank” starting in early 2009, Cainsaid.