LEWISTON — Maine Family Federal Credit Union opens 90 to 100 new accounts in an average month.

In October, that hit 137.

“We received a lot of phone calls after Bank of America made their announcement (of a proposed $5 monthly debit card fee),” said President and CEO Rachel Caron, who has 18,000 members between two branches in Lewiston and Auburn. “I’ve never liked a usage fee for a checking account. I think it’s nickel-and-diming people to death.”

The Maine Credit Union League said Tuesday that 87 percent of Maine credit unions it surveyed saw a marked increase in new members between Oct. 1 and Saturday’s much-touted National Bank Transfer Day.

Those credit unions opened 12 to 55 percent more new accounts compared to a typical month.

The statewide average was 20 percent, according to spokesman Jon Paradise, with a majority of new members “reporting leaving a bank to join a credit union because of fees and/or more awareness of the benefits of credit unions.”

Bank of America made waves in September when it proposed a new debit card fee to make up for the drop in transaction fees charged to merchants. It recently ditched the proposal, but not before fueling national interest in nonprofit credit unions that traditionally offer no-cost checking.

Rainbow Federal Credit Union President Phil Moreau said 50 net new members joined last week, about twice as many as an average week.

“I think people are really cognizant of the fact that some institutions are charging fees and they’re looking for alternatives,” Moreau said.

At Oxford Federal Credit Union, Cynthia Giroux, vice president of human resources and marketing, saw a slight uptick in membership. “We couldn’t really say with any certainty whether it was a result of the backlash against the banks,” she said.

She heard reports of more customers asking about the differences between banks and credit unions.

Chris Pinkham, president of the Maine Bankers Association, said he had not heard of any significant closings of accounts among members.

As a result of federal regulatory changes to debit, overdraft and other fees, credit unions and banks alike will all have to revisit their fee structures, he added.

“I think the message that we always try to give people, you shop two or three places, get prices, find out what best suits you,” Pinkham said. “In Maine, there’s so much competition, there’s sort of a price and product for everybody.”

TJ Crawford, a spokesman for Bank of America, declined to speak about any change in customer numbers in Maine.

“We report account information and balances every quarter,” he said.

The fourth quarter report isn’t due until early- to mid-January.

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