When Bank of America announced a monthly $5 debit card fee would take effect in 2012, questions about the potential backlash ran through my head. Would consumers put up with this? Would the bank cancel the fee to combat lost business? How angry would the fee make Gen Y? 

After speaking to several of my peers and observing their posts on social media sites, it became clear that Gen Y-ers have no problem ditching their banks to avoid fees.

Mindy, a 29-year-old Portland, Ore., native and her husband Dan, 28, proudly moved their money from Chase Bank into a credit union when fee chatter began to grow (Chase is among the banks testing a $3 monthly debit card fee). Mindy told Credit Union Times that she and Dan first considered switching to a CU when Washington Mutual, their bank at the time, merged with Chase and started showing signs of becoming more corporate. But they stuck it out for a few years, "mostly because of convenience," she said.

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Natasha Chilingerian

Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.