Celebrating Move Your Money Month with a Bank Local press conference

Rhode Islanders urged to shift funds from Wall Street to Main Street

Moving your money to a local bank or credit union can benefit the local economy, according to local businesses and community leaders

Providence, RI – Today, local banking executives, small business owners, and economic and community development organizations marked the end of Move Your Money Month in Rhode Island at the Hope & Main Downtown Makers Marketplace.

“Local banks reinvest deposits back into local businesses, homeowners, and nonprofits. That circulation of capital is what builds resilient, sustainable communities.” said Jack Murphy, president and CEO of BankNewport.

“We’ve seen it happen time after time,” said Lisa Raiola, founder and president of Hope & Main. “Community financial institutions are the ones that step up for our emerging food businesses. We’ve even developed Homegrown Capital, a program to strengthen relationships between our food-preneurs and local banks.”

Move Your Money Month is a statewide call for Rhode Islanders to ask where your money lives, who it serves, and what kind of future it’s building. Throughout April, Local Return encouraged Rhode Islanders to choose local banks and credit unions through a 30‑Day Learning Challenge and Move Your Money yard signs across the state.

“It’s about aligning your financial and economic habits, whenever possible, with your values,” said Jessica David, president of Local Return. “We focus on the three major ways people can shift their money back to their home communities: banking local, buying local, and investing local.”

The Bank Local, Invest Local campaign, spearheaded nationally by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), encourages people to support community banks and credit unions as part of their efforts to move more of their money from Wall Street to Main Street. The Move Your Money campaign also coincides with Community Banking Month, led by the Independent Community Bankers of America.

“Community banks and credit unions exist to serve local residents and businesses,” said Raiola. “They’re staffed by people from our community, and those are the people who make decisions.”

According to national data, most locally owned banks and credit unions offer the same services at lower costs than big banks.

“Choosing a local bank is one of the easiest ways to support our local economy,” said David. “When you deposit your money with a community bank or credit union, you’re supporting loans to small businesses, mortgages for your neighbors, and grants to local nonprofits. In contrast, the big banks aren’t connected to places where they operate, and they often use Rhode Island deposits to make investments elsewhere.”