While there were reports that credit unions and small banks around the country had an uptick in new members Saturday as part of “Bank Transfer Day,” the occasion for the most part turned out to be a nonevent for some local institutions.

Officials at several local credit unions and community banks said activity was fairly normal Saturday despite a social media movement that urged people to switch their accounts from big banks.

“We did not have any new accounts as a result of somebody coming in and saying, ‘I'm transferring my account due to Bank Transfer Day,'” said Karla Sarran, United SA Federal Credit Union's marketing director. “We were pretty slow.”

United SA Federal Credit Union opened the lobbies of its eight branches for four hours each on Saturday, a day when its lobbies are usually closed.

Decisions by the big banks to rescind plans to charge customers for using debit cards may have taken away some of the motivation for big-bank customers to switch, Sarran said. The idea for Bank Transfer Day started after Bank of America announced plans to charge customers a $5 monthly fee for debit-card usage.

Another reason why the turnout was unexceptional might be because nearly half of San Antonio's population already are credit union members. The figure is 30 percent statewide.

“It was really uneventful for us,” said Broadway Bank spokeswoman Lydia Rodriguez. Her comments were echoed by Security Service Federal Credit Union, Frost Bank and Jefferson Bank.

Local members of Move.org and the American Dream Movement marked the day by protesting in front of Bank of America and Chase branches on Vance Jackson Road. About 40 or so protesters chanted “Banks got bailed out; we got sold out.”

Local MoveOn.org organizer Jennifer Stephenson said she couldn't close her account at Chase because she has a pending transaction. So instead she withdrew 99 one-dollar bills, in part, to show her solidarity with the “99 percent” movement. She plans to eventually close her Chase account and switch to another institution, possibly to a credit union.

“JPMorgan Chase (and other big banks) all had a hand in the crash of the economy,” Stephenson said. “Their interest is increasing their bottom line so they can pay their CEOs more. That's their incentive, profit, and not investment in the community.”

A Chase spokesman declined to comment.

Beverly Mansfield, another MoveOn.org member, also took out $99 from her Chase account.

“I am tired of mismanagement of funds, corporate greed, especially with the state of our nation,” Mansfield said. “People before profits is my motto these days.”

A couple of credit unions reported an increase in new membership Saturday. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union opened 350 new accounts Saturday, up 67 percent from a year ago. Firstmark Credit Union added 33 members Saturday, up as much as 50 percent from typical Saturday.

The Texas Credit Union League reported membership in state credit union membership grew by 47,000 members from Sept. 29 through Oct. 29 — four times the normal amount. More recent figures weren't immediately available.