Credit Unions

[Anonymous]

I am confused as to what the differences are in credit unions and regular banks. My employer offers a credit union but i have never joined. I just keep my accounts with my bank that I have banked with since high school. I am wondering would I be better off to switch my accounts and do my banking through my employer credit union? Are credit unions easier to deal with than large corporation banks? Thanks for your input!

[RobertEG]

I swear by credit unions. 

They offer the personal, local touch that you dont get with big banks.  Member owned, so you are speaking to a peer at some level.

Particularly helpful when you need a loan and have things to explain.

Their client base is limited, and their overhead is not as much as a big bank;  those factors usually enable them to offer lower interest rates.

Many offer interest on checking accts balances.

Most offer both mortgage and auto loans.

Most now offer major bank cards.

The one down-side is that some of the smaller CUs dont report monthly to the CRAs.

[improvedcredit]

RobertEG

What do you mean that Credit Unions dont report monthly to CRAs? Would that be a good thing if you try to refinance a car or mortgage with a Credit Union?

[Repo-ed]

I belong to a local CU, but I've been holding off to pull the trigger in making them my primary bank. I have a love/hate with BOA, but I pay no fees and their online banking is 2nd to none - especially since I never have any need to go inside a branch. I can do everything from home or one of their highspeed/low drag ATM machines.

I have monies diretly deposited into a checking and savings account bi-weekly, that way when BOA pulls a stunt, I can move all my money and go about my day-to-day with this CU with no problems.

My ONLY complaint (and maybe not a justifiable one) is that they are very small, when compared to a large bank, so the CS is not as quick (or there simply not enough people staffed on a pay-friday) to handle the infllux of customer call-ins, etc.

Being in the CS industry, I pride myself on giving customers top-notch, quick, and efficient answers to their inquiries and I demand the same in return from businesses that I patronize.