In advance of Bank Transfer Day on November 5th, the credit union music duo The Disclosures have released a short music video highlighting how consumers can switch from a big bank to a local credit union. Credit unions are encouraged to use the video on their website and social media channels as part of their member outreach efforts.

The viral Bank Transfer Day continues to grow amidst widespread dissatisfaction with high bank fees. Bank customers who have become disillusioned by practices like these are now looking to local cooperative credit unions, who typically charge fewer and lower fees and provide other services that represent their structurally-driven commitment to people, not profit.

“The idea of moving your money to a credit union is a hot topic now because of Bank Transfer Day, but we hope credit unions will find value in sharing our video long after November 5th,” said Disclosures band member Chad Helminak.

The song gives a quick overview of the steps needed to move funds from a bank to a credit union and is a slight departure from The Disclosures’ recent video efforts around their original songs. Instead, they re-worked Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” in a fashion similar to their call-to-action video, “Don’t Change Interchange”, which parodies George Michael’s “Faith”.

“Sometimes it helps to get an important message across if you take something people know and turn it on its head,” said Disclosure Christopher Morris. “And like everything we do, we don’t take ourselves too seriously to help make it entertaining.”

With thousands of consumers pledging to move their money from big banks to local credit unions on or before Bank Transfer Day (November 5th), we wanted to highlight a couple of our music videos that credit unions can use to promote the credit union difference.

Bank Transfer Day has been highlighted in numerous national media outlets and continues to grow amidst widespread dissatisfaction with high bank fees. Bank customers who have become disillusioned by practices like these are now looking to local cooperative credit unions, who typically charge fewer and lower fees and provide other services that represent their structurally-driven commitment to people, not profit.

We have a few YouTube videos that share themes with Bank Transfer Day:

• Movin’ on With My Money” http://youtu.be/fKCZFkKhH-Q
• “98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” http://youtu.be/YJm7H00_lxM
• “Building a Better World” http://youtu.be/8QX8EniLa9o

We encourage you to use the videos on your websites and/or corresponding social media channels to highlight the philosophy of credit unions in the run-up to Bank Transfer Day (and anytime really). In addition, we invite credit unions to use any of the songs on our album, “(Hey We’re) The Disclosures, ” as part of their on-hold message, lobbies, etc to help communicate the credit union difference in a fun, musical way.

Hope you find these resources useful and Happy Bank Transfer Day!

In celebration of International Credit Union Day, The Disclosures will be performing a special breakout session from CUNA Campus in Madison, WI and you’re invited to join us!

Thanks to our friends at CUNA Mutual Group and Filene Research Institute, we’re able to live stream our session and make it available to credit unions around the globe. Here are the details:

—————————————————————

Filene “Lunch With Ed” Series: The Disclosures Breakout Session

Music video includes clips from more than 40 credit unions and supporting organizations

The credit union music duo, The Disclosures, have released a free song and music video for International Credit Union Day (October 20, 2011) called “Building a Better World”, which pays homage to this year’s celebration theme. The band encourages credit unions to use the song and video to raise awareness of the positive impact credit unions continue to make around the world.

Download the song (mp3):

> Download (Save Target As…)

Lyrics:

> Building a Better World – Lyrics (PDF)

“Our music has always focused on finding new ways to package the credit union message,” said Disclosures band member Chad Helminak. “With ‘Building a Better World’, we decided to take it one step further and invite credit union folks to have some fun and help demonstrate our cooperative nature.”

The Disclosures put out a casting call to credit unions to provide video clips, which would eventually become the entirety of the music video. In addition to the submissions, the band also filmed credit union people singing a few of the segments. More than 40 credit unions and supporting organizations make cameos in the video, which include credit union staff lip-synching lyrics, performing air-guitar with hockey sticks and even dancing with mascots.

“We’re truly amazed at the response and support we received for this project so far and we’re truly thankful for credit unions’ participation,” said Disclosure member Christopher Morris. “Credit unions’ personability usually shines through their member and community service, but now you can see it also holds true for music videos.”

Credit unions are encouraged to distribute and share the video on their websites and in other online communications.

As part of the video collection process, the Disclosures also randomly selected a video submission to receive a signed copy of their CD “(Hey, We’re) The Dislcosures”. The winner was Doug MacMillian from State Employees Credit Union in N.C.

Please help us spread the word!

1. Like us on Facebook:

2. Share our site and song with others:

UPDATE: The deadline for submissions have passed. Thanks to all those who sent us video footage!

International Credit Union Day is right around the corner (October 20, 2011) with a theme this year of “Credit Unions Build a Better World” and The Disclosures have a unique way for you to get involved!

To help celebrate, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) has asked us to put together a special song for this year’s event. The song is called “Building a Better World” and we’ve recorded a bare bones version of the song. We still need to put the finishing touches on it, but we need your help.

Here’s where you come in: We want you to star in the video! Since credit unions are building a better world – why not feature credit union people worldwide singing about it, right?

We’d love to have you record a video of yourself (or part of your staff) singing along to the song (especially during the “na-na-na” part during the chorus). Once we receive your video, we’ll edit it together with other submissions to create the music video, which will then get posted to YouTube for credit unions around the word to share with their members. The quality doesn’t have to be perfect – use your phone, your laptop camera, whatever you can find. We’ll make it work.

Also, not only will you star in the video, but one lucky video submitter will be randomly chosen to receive an autographed copy of our debut album “(Hey) We’re The Disclosures”!

Interested? Contact thedisclosures@gmail.com for the latest version of the song and lyrics. Video snippets will need to be submitted by Wednesday, September 21 and we can provide directions on sending video files.

Thanks and we look forward to rocking with you!

From the event description:

Join us at the Capital Brewery Bier Garten in Middleton on Wednesday, September 14 at 5-7 p.m. for a fun evening with good people as we celebrate and honor our credit union and co-op communities! All local credit union supporters, co-op enthusiasts and believers of the ‘people helping people’ philosophy are welcome.

Enjoy live music by The Disclosures starting at 5:30 pm. Food and drinks (beer, wine, water and soda) will be available for purchase.

Donations and proceeds from food sales will benefit the upcoming Co-op Connection event on Oct. 1 at the Monona Terrace. Co-op Connection will spotlight co-op businesses in every sector and create positive publicity, awareness and visibility for the co-op movement. Stay in the loop by liking the Co-op Connection Facebook page and be sure to save the date!

Please feel free to bring family and friends and tell your colleagues. See you at the Capital Brewery on Sept. 14!

> Capital Brewery September 14th Event Facebook Page

We had so much fun making the “98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” music video (watch it here) and so did our younger selves.

Enjoy this short behind-the-scenes clip!

We are very excited to be invited to play at this special event hosted by Summit Credit Union here in Madison! The Disclosures will play a set of our original songs mixed in with our favorite covers.

So what’s it all about?

The Co-op Connection is an event to celebrate cooperatives and all that they contribute to their communities. Area cooperatives and cooperative enthusiasts will host interactive booths to educate their members, employees, and the public on what they do and why it’s important to our community and the local economy. There will be live music from local bands, kids’ activities, and free food samples.

You should come!  Details:

Saturday, October 1, 2011 | 9 am – 2 pm at Monona Terrace Convention Center

> Click here for more information about the event

We’ll be playing from 11:45-12:30 and 12:45-1:30. Hope to see you there!

“98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” music video made available for credit unions to use in online communications

The credit union industry’s very own “thrift rock” duo, The Disclosures, just released their first official music video on YouTube – a flashback style video for their song “98 Problems (But a Bank Ain’t One)” from their debut album, (Hey, We’re) The Disclosures.

The 98 Problems video stars “younger versions” of band members Christopher Morris and Chad Helminak as they discuss the differences between banks and credit unions.

“It’s our hope that credit unions find this content useful on their member websites and social networks to help better educate their members on credit union philosophy,” said Disclosure band member Morris. “We had a fun time recording the song and even more fun recording the video.”

> View the lyrics for “98 Problems”

“This song felt deserving of a video, as it’s become one of the most popular songs to perform during our breakout sessions,” noted Helminak. “Fortunately, our shameless application of phrases from rap songs has not yet earned us any ‘cease and desist’ letters from the music industry.”

The song and album are currently available for download on major digital music stores such as iTunes, Amazon.com and others. Physical copies of the CD are available online through the The Disclosures’ website, as well as speaker and live performance information.

Click here for more information about The Disclosures.

Just announced!

You need to be in Fishers, Indiana on September 29-30 for this year’s CU Water Cooler Symposium.

Not only will Chad be doing a session on best practices for gathering and sharing credit union member stories, but The Disclosures will be playing Thursday night as part of the entertainment festivities. We’ll be playing our original credit union-related songs mixed in with some popular songs you know and love.

It’s a great conference – fresh speakers, awesome speakers and great conversations. Hope to see you there!

> More information & Registration