Benefits of a credit union?

[gh17]

I'm wondering what the benefits are to establishing a relationship with a credit union.  I do have $15 in an account with a local credit union, although I don't really know why.  Luckily, they don't charge me any fees (for now).

It seems that they do definitely offer low APR credit cards compared to the major companies; however, this isn't too relevant if you always pay in full.  Their rewards definitely aren't competitive.

I often hear about credit unions having better deposit rates than major banks.  However, at least for the ones I've looked at, their checking/savings/CD rates aren't even close to competitive compared to banks like Ally, and a lot them (luckily not mine) have a ton more hoops to jump through to avoid fees (either a minimum balance, required direct deposit, etc).

Are their loan rates really that great typically?  Mine seem to be comparable to the major banks for car loans and, like most major banks, are significantly higher or not allowed for used cars from more than 5 or 6 years ago.  I don't know about mortgages.  And do you really need to "establish a relationship" before being eligible for local credit unions' loans?  It looks like most have rates based on credit worthiness, not based on longevity as a member or anything.

I guess I'm just wondering why I often hear such great things about credit unions and your need to get your foot in the door with them.  Maybe it's different with the ones based on employment/military status/etc. as opposed to the ones based on local residency.

[fot1]

For me it was much higher Credit limits and lower Apr's..

[EmmyWannabeOrman]

Lower interest and they can be more forgiving to those with less than stellar credit 

[mongstradamus]

---

@EmmyWannabeOrman wrote:

Lower interest and they can be more forgiving to those with less than stellar credit 

---

For me i do like no min balance and no nickel and diming you like some other banks try to do. Also I am getting .6% interest on my checking account with direct deposit. That rate is pretty darn good compared to brick and mortar savings accounts that top out at like .05% I think. 

Forgot to mention that i also want to get my foot in the door in case i want to get an auto loan their rates are usually pretty good.

[EmmyWannabeOrman]

CU's tend to have lower fees for mishaps, but lately I've seen some charge just as much fees as the bigger banks. 

[gh17]

---

@mongstradamus wrote:

For me i do like no min balance and no nickel and diming you like some other banks try to do. Also I am getting .6% interest on my checking account with direct deposit. That rate is pretty darn good compared to brick and mortar savings accounts that top out at like .05% I think. 

Forgot to mention that i also want to get my foot in the door in case i want to get an auto loan their rates are usually pretty good.

---

Yeah that's a good checking rate, but I tend to keep only the bare minimum in my checking and keep the rest in savings/CDs.  Ally's savings runs at .87% right now.  I suppose if you like brick and mortar though.  For me, brick and mortar is more a pain than anything, since they tend to have worse online banking, worse online customer service, worse phone hours, etc. and I hate having to travel to the bank for stuff.

With regard to your second point, I guess I don't really understand the "foot in the door" thing.  Can you not just become a member and get their auto loan rates later whenever you're looking for an auto loan?

[gh17]

---

@EmmyWannabeOrman wrote:

CU's tend to have lower fees for mishaps, but lately I've seen some charge just as much fees as the bigger banks. 

---

Again, maybe this is a brick and mortar thing, and not to be an Ally advertisement, but I don't really get charged fees for anything, including ATMs, overdraft protection transfers, etc.  My credit union has all sorts of ATM and overdraft protection fees.  There's even a debit card fee if you don't run it as credit!  And this is from the credit union I have that didn't have minimum balance/direct deposit requirements - the rest in the area had monthly maintenance fees/more hoops to jump through.

[mongstradamus]

---

@gh17 wrote:

---

@EmmyWannabeOrman wrote:

CU's tend to have lower fees for mishaps, but lately I've seen some charge just as much fees as the bigger banks. 

---

Again, maybe this is a brick and mortar thing, and not to be an Ally advertisement, but I don't really get charged fees for anything, including ATMs, overdraft protection transfers, etc.  My credit union has all sorts of ATM and overdraft protection fees.  There's even a debit card fee if you don't run it as credit!  And this is from the credit union I have that didn't have minimum balance/direct deposit requirements - the rest in the area had monthly maintenance fees/more hoops to jump through.

---

I do have an ally account as well, i was thinking of opening an checking account , but since i already have my account with CU, so decided against it. I have less than 1k usually in my cu checking account. I transfer about twice an month to my ally savings account :-)

[gh17]

---

@EmmyWannabeOrman wrote:

Lower interest and they can be more forgiving to those with less than stellar credit 

---

This seems reasonable.

I guess, is there any real benefit to me, as someone with pretty good credit, establishing a relationship with my credit union?  Do they really offer signficiantly better rates to people with good credit than anyone else will, and if so, does the "relationship" you've established actually lower your rate?  Or could you just join whenever you need to?

[gh17]

---

@mongstradamus wrote:

---

@gh17 wrote:

---

@EmmyWannabeOrman wrote:

CU's tend to have lower fees for mishaps, but lately I've seen some charge just as much fees as the bigger banks. 

---

Again, maybe this is a brick and mortar thing, and not to be an Ally advertisement, but I don't really get charged fees for anything, including ATMs, overdraft protection transfers, etc.  My credit union has all sorts of ATM and overdraft protection fees.  There's even a debit card fee if you don't run it as credit!  And this is from the credit union I have that didn't have minimum balance/direct deposit requirements - the rest in the area had monthly maintenance fees/more hoops to jump through.

---

I do have an ally account as well, i was thinking of opening an checking account , but since i already have my account with CU, so decided against it. I have less than 1k usually in my cu checking account. I transfer about twice an month to my ally savings account :-)

---

If you've already got a checking you're happy with, probably no need.  They keep lowering their checking rates which is slightly annoying (but not really because like you I keep like no money in my checking - and why not when they transfer for it from my savings if I overdraft for free anyway).