Bank VS Credit Union

[snafu]

I see how angry people seem to be with their financial institutions which is being expressed as a march/protest on Wall St. These protests are being carried out in dozens of major cities.

I'm disgusted by the antics and out-of-proportion remuneration, bonus and benefits of the executives of our Big 5 banks that seems disproportionate to other corporate executives as well as their front line staff. Coincidentally, a new Credit Union will be opening a branch nearby.

Would appreciate hearing views pros and cons of CU Why do you like your CU? Is it convenient for automatic deposit and computer banking. Would you use a CU as your primary financial institution? If you dislike or are neutral with the bank you use...what keeps you from switching to a CU or other financial institution. Do you prefer to grumble rather than make changes? If 10% or 25% of clients changed financial institutions would that cause major change?

[MonkeyMama]

Would appreciate hearing views pros and cons of CU Why do you like your CU? Is it convenient for automatic deposit and computer banking. Would you use a CU as your primary financial institution? If you dislike or are neutral with the bank you use...what keeps you from switching to a CU or other financial institution. Do you prefer to grumble rather than make changes? If 10% or 25% of clients changed financial institutions would that cause major change?

I think this could be a good/informative discussion.

I have only banked with CUs my entire life (banking over 20 years) and so don't have any bank experience to compare to. But the reasons people told me they didn't bank with CUs over the years were *usually* just myths generally perpetuated by big banks, and just false assumptions, etc.

That said, not every CU is created equal. I shopped around when we moved here and was not impressed with a couple of the CUs I looked at.

Every single CU I have belonged to was convenient for automatic deposit and computer banking, yes. My CU does online deposit scans too, which not many banks are doing even. Yes, obviously I would use a CU as a primary financial institution.

The primary draw of the CU is no fees - for me. I also prefer my non-profit health insurer compared to all the for-profits at my disposal. My overall experience is the technology and service is BETTER in both cases, because these groups aren't trying to keep shareholders happy. They generate more revenues and success by keeping the customers happy. This may be overly-simplified, but my positive experience with non-profit institutions means I tend to seek out lower fee/higher quality experiences.

The CU I belong to right now is by far the best I have experienced. There is a branch right down the street from my home, and it is a very large/regional CU. I've banked with smaller ones, which were more limited, but I have not needed a reason to live in the same city as any CU before with up-to-date technology, etc. It's only 3-4 years that I have even lived in the same city as my CU and enjoyed dropping into a branch. BEfore the internet age we simply used telephone and mail. Before switching to this CU I only drove to my old CUs to open my accounts, and once for travelers cheques. ATM transactions are generally free at any CU. Obviously you don't even need to visit any bank or CU to open an account in this day and age - I prior opened accounts in the late 1980s or early 1990s, so just recall like the only time I ever went to the branch.

**I forgot that I currently belong to two CUs. One across the country that I have not and never will step foot in. Best online savings rates at the moment. I switched to online bank for savings in the interim (I forget that also - am an Ally bank customer too), but before then was just CUs, and right now most my savings is in my CUs. Ally bank is probably a comparable experience to my CU except no local branches and so maybe a bit more limited as simply an "online bank" in the region I live in. Which is fine for savings, but I need something more local for a checking account. People sometimes want local checks, and as infrequently as I use the branches, it's nice to have one available for when you do need it. As long as I have one local financial institution, there are transfers to get money in and out of all the rest.

[photo]

I see how angry people seem to be with their financial institutions which is being expressed as a march/protest on Wall St.

They should be angry with the government, who is interfering with capitalism. Banks don't have to make good choices; Uncle Sam will bail them out. When institutions don't have to be responsible for their bad decisions, they have no incentive to change.

Would appreciate hearing views pros and cons of CU Why do you like your CU?

Interest rate for money market, which is higher than anywhere else I've seen.

Would you use a CU as your primary financial institution?

I'm not opposed to it, but I don't for a few reasons. One is that I can't choose my username and password online. It has to be given to them in person. We have a significant amount of cash there, and to be frank, the tellers, although very friendly, are not careful or discreet enough to satisfy my confidence.

We have two other cash account, one at ING Direct, which is where I pay the vast majority of the bills, and one at the despised Bank of America, only for the simple reason that I can make deposits 24 hours a day. Depositing paper checks at ING Direct is very inconvenient. I don't have an ATM card for the credit union because again, the username and password have to be given to them in person.

[Nightfly]

After getting disgusted with banks over ten years ago - before getting disgusted with banks was cool - I have been exclusively with CUs for the last decade. I see no reason whatsoever to do business with a bank vs. a CU. My current CU:

* allows direct deposit
* offers ATM / Debit cards
* offers credit cards
* does auto loans and home mortgages
* allows online banking / checking
* doesn't charge me when I have to see them in person, and
* some of the tellers actually recognize me as a regular customer
* has phone and in-person staff that are friendly
* doesn't charge me fees for exhaling or inhaling
* gave me an emergency loan when no bank would (another topic, yes I'm well aware of the dangers of credit)

For the love of all that is good and holy, ditch the bank - esp. if it's BofA

[kork13]

I have used a credit union exclusively, a bank exclusively, and currently use both of them (the same bank and CU). Credit unions are great because they typically offer most (if not all) of the services that a bank offers, but tend to have better customer service and better rates (both for loans/cc's and savings accounts). So if you have the option of having a great CU that offers all of the services you're looking for, I would absolutely just use the credit union.

Banks tend to be better in terms of accessibility, online functionality, offer a wider variety of financial products, and often have more lenient lending requirements (though this is not always the case). Plus, they benefit from having a wider network, and typically have offices across a large region (if not nationally).

Personally, I love both my bank and credit union, which is why I use both today. Each offers different products, rates, and have excellent customer service. So I'm happy to use both, taking advantage of the best parts of each.

Honestly, you have to judge every institution as a separate entity, because that's what they are. Every company is managed differently. Alot of credit unions are great, but some are terrible, hard to work with, or whatever. Some banks are heinously awful, while others are quite good. A quick google search on the specific banks and credit unions you're looking at should help you determine fairly well what you can expect from each.

[Slug]

I just got back from the annual meeting for my credit union a couple of days ago. What an incredible bunch of people dedicated to an incredibly positive institution that is truly dedicated to its member/owners. The interests of the credit union are aligned with the members. Their employees are all salaried (no commissions) so when they are advising you, it's truly in your best interest. Going to this meeting made me want to put all of my money with them. I can't do that, but I do trust them enough to send my mama to them.

[feh]

We've been using a CU for at least 15 years now. Why? Because they provide the best value.

We use them only for checking; our EF is at an online bank where the interest rate is higher.

[Bond Investor]

Given the choice between banks and credit unions, CU's usually are a better option. But a major problem in the current zero-percent interest rate environment is that any investment at a bank or CU is pretty much guaranteed to lose value (its purchasing power) at the rate of inflation, which is at approx 3% and may be trending up.

[ken1706]

Two important features for me are competitive interest rates and convenience.

On the first, I've found credit unions offer much higher interest rates on deposit accounts than banks.

On the convenience issue, credit unions can have trouble competing with the big banks. However, my credit union belongs to the shared branch network and a major ATM network. For the shared branch network, I can take care of many banking transactions (like depositing a check) at any branch in the nation that's also a shared branch member. The ATM network allows me to make surcharge-free withdrawals at any ATM in the network which has 1000's of ATMs across the nation.