Why Credit Unions Are Better Than Banks

Have you ever wanted great customer service, high interest rates on your deposits, lower interest rates on loans and overall lower fees? Then credit unions are for you. Credit unions are just as trust worthy as banks because they are insured and regulated in the same way. Many people in the world of finance agree that the benefits of belonging to a credit union are far better than that of a bank. There are better rates and money saving opportunities at every turn with a credit union. Credit union’s ownership allows its members to be in complete control. The objects are clear and stream lined at a credit union for member convenience. The operation of credit unions is their best asset. They strive to serve the member with the upmost care possible.
The big differences are how they go about doing it and why they are doing it. Credit unions are Not-for-Profits! Credit unions are not in search of gleaning every penny possible from you, they are interested in helping you with the managing of them. Credit unions offer higher interest rates on deposits. The money that sits in your savings account has a higher, return at a credit union than it does at a bank. When opening my first account Skyward Credit Union put five dollars into my account! The credit union basically paid me to have an account with them. You don’t get that at a bank. There are often set up fees and minimum balances that are paid in order to open and maintain an account. Banks and credit unions are completely opposite in the way they handle their rewards, “instead of offering accounts to customers and large dividends to a small group of owners, as banks do, credit unions offer small dividends — and discounted loan rates, reduced fees and other benefits — to a large group of members” (David Goldstein). By offering large rewards to a small group of people the large amount of their customers are missing out. Taking out a loan for a car or house is better done at a credit union as well because they offer lower interest rates. It is more beneficial to take out a loan at a credit union than a bank. The credit unions focus on their bottom line
Credit unions and banks alike have ATMs for the convenience of their customers. The branches of Credit unions tend to be localized while offering a larger reach through the use of networks that allow members to bank at several locations, and banks often have a few branches if they are regional and a vast amount if the bank is a national one. The deposit insurance is huge for members; it means the difference between having a guarantee of your money not going anywhere and gambling that the financial institution will continue to prosper indefinitely. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC for short, insures banks. Credit unions hold insurance granted by the National Credit Union Administration. “National banks must be members of the Federal Reserve System; however, they are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC),” in addition to the OCC there are a few other regulating bodies such as: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FRS (Federal Reserve System), or the Office of Thrift Supervision (Dr. Econ). Credit unions are more centralized because the National Credit Union Administration or NCUA governs them while banks have many different possible bodies of regulation over