Skeptics insist that the Occupy Wall Street protest and its spinoffs here in Washington state will have little impact on their intended targets, but don't tell that to the busy folks over at BECU, who have seen a 280 percent increase in new accounts over the past few months. Writing in a diary on Daily Kos, local activist Robert Sargent reports on the once humble credit union's stunning growth:

I spoke with Todd Pietzch of BECU earlier today. He told me that they acquired a record of 8700 new accounts in August, a record of 9400 in September, and as of yesterday, have hit a new record of 10,500 new accounts for October, through just two-thirds of the month.

The credit union will soon exceed $10 billion in assets, subjecting it to the "Durbin Amendment", which slashes the debit card transaction fee cap roughly in half, to about 24¢. This will cost BECU, but they will not increase fees or add new ones as they expect to make up for the loss with growth in deposits.

You can read my own account of switching to BECU here.