Culture Jam at Big Banks in three SF Bay Area cities

Handing out flyers and talking to folks about breaking up that affair with their big bank around the Valentine's Day holiday was fun...but what is activism without a little creativity?

The Raging Grannies and an artiste took the campaign led by grassroots group A New Way Forward a step further with a test. The Grannies wanted to see if graphics would help get the message across. Their culture jamming action led to some interesting conversations. Customer reactions to animal faces and a sandwich board message were varied. From shock, to WTF? to...well, see for yourself in the photos. Some people were too busy talking on their cell phones to even notice that they had put their bank card into an animal mouth of teeth!

What better location than Silicon Valley to test the waters? The Grannies interacted with (willing!) customers at Wells Fargo and Bank of America in three Silicon Valley cities. And in case you are wondering how to cancel your credit card quickly and easily, here are some tips from our friends at A New Way Forward:

Find the contact info on the back of the card. Write it down, keep it around. Call your credit card company, don't tell them you plan on cancelling, and ask how much you will owe on your balance in 15 days (balances constantly change due to interest). Send in a check for the amount you'll owe in 15 days to pay your balance down to $0.

Wait a week, then call your credit card company, confirm that the balance is $0, and tell them you are canceling. They will try to convince you to keep the card because it's more profitable for them to retain customers than to recruit new ones. Stay firm. Tell them you want your credit report to reflect that the account was "closed at the consumer's request."

Ask who you can send a cancellation request letter to. Make sure they mark down that the account was closed at the request of the customer. Send a letter to confirm all this!

A New Way Forward suggests that if you need a new, fairer, cheaper credit card, try AM Trust, American Pacific, or Bendigo.