<p>HAPO Community Credit Union opened its doors at the Hermiston branch at the intersection of Highway 395 and Theater Lane on Nov. 7. The grand opening will be Dec. 2. </p>

A new credit union in Hermiston is seeing positive results in its first two weeks of business, with some of the success attributed to the recent Bank Transfer Day.

HAPO?Community Credit Union based in Richland, Wash. recently opened a branch in Hermiston, and its average membership numbers are increasing, said Ruby Campos, HAPO?branch operations vice president. 

In the new branchs first week of operation, 70 new accounts were opened in four days. 

We had a really great first two weeks, Campos said. 

Bank Transfer Day on Nov. 5 began a movement in response to the Occupy Wall Street protests and Bank of Americas proposed $5 debit card fee.

We started seeing a higher average in October, Campos said. Seemed like it was the same time as the announcement of the debit card fees, new members started trickling in.

The average for the month of November also is higher than usual, she said. 

We talk with our front-line employees on a regular basis and we have had some members stating they did switch due to the fees, Campos said. As far as HAPO is concerned, even though we offer some of the best rates, we still believe its our personalized service that kind of separates us.

HAPO Hermiston branch is the credit unions first Oregon operation. Existing branches are in Washington in Tri-Cities, Yakima, Sunnyside and Walla Walla. Campos said HAPO chose Hermiston for an Oregon branch because of existing customers in the area with auto loans.

Traci Gederos, Oregon First Community Credit Union vice president of marketing said there has been a slight increase in memberships because of the proposed fees, but nothing too significant. 

Oregon First has branches open across Oregon including Hermiston, Pendleton and Boardman.