@Revelate wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Very interesting!
Do you think there would also be objections from other CUs about increased competition from larger CUs?
Hi! because CUs are non- profit, they do not compete. Therefore most CUs actually work together through an organization called CU Service Centers. Many are on this network (though NFCU does not participate and I have solicited them to please do so) and it allows one to go into any participating CU and do pretty much any banking you need as if one is in one's own CU. Pretty nifty actually. 2 of my CUs participate and I have used the system all over the US. You can google "Credit Union Service Centers" and see a list of all participating CUs.
Actually just because a CU is non-profit (or any other organization with this status for that matter) doesn't mean they're not in the business of making money, and absolutely compete against the rest of the market as a result.
I actually work for an organization which some would likely be slightly surprised to find that it's a non-profit... but everyone would think it patently absurd if anyone stated that we weren't out to make money, and they'd be 100% correct.
Hey Rev!
making money and competing are not one in the same. Obviously, CUs would like to expand their base but unlike banks, they are limited in their ability to do so. For example, my employment CU does not compete with NFCU for the same members except for maybe on a very small scale like my situation but for the most part- the 2 have a very different niche. i would venture to say that 99.5% of the individuals that are members of NFCU can't join the other or vice versa and likely do not actively seek to do so because they can't by law. So do they compete? In the purest sense of the word Yes for that probable .5%. Now on the other hand- All military members and their families etc... Can both join NFCU and ANY bank in the US if they so chose. Of course CUs are mandated to make money for their members but they really can't compete with each other like banks. It was designed that way intentionally.
Starting Score: 642
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Very interesting!
Do you think there would also be objections from other CUs about increased competition from larger CUs?
Hi! because CUs are non- profit, they do not compete. Therefore most CUs actually work together through an organization called CU Service Centers. Many are on this network (though NFCU does not participate and I have solicited them to please do so) and it allows one to go into any participating CU and do pretty much any banking you need as if one is in one's own CU. Pretty nifty actually. 2 of my CUs participate and I have used the system all over the US. You can google "Credit Union Service Centers" and see a list of all participating CUs.
Actually just because a CU is non-profit (or any other organization with this status for that matter) doesn't mean they're not in the business of making money, and absolutely compete against the rest of the market as a result.
I actually work for an organization which some would likely be slightly surprised to find that it's a non-profit... but everyone would think it patently absurd if anyone stated that we weren't out to make money, and they'd be 100% correct.
Hey Rev!
making money and competing are not one in the same. Obviously, CUs would like to expand their base but unlike banks, they are limited in their ability to do so. For example, my employment CU does not compete with NFCU for the same members except for maybe on a very small scale like my situation but for the most part- the 2 have a very different niche. i would venture to say that 99.5% of the individuals that are members of NFCU can't join the other or vice versa and likely do not actively seek to do so because they can't by law. So do they compete? In the purest sense of the word Yes for that probable .5%. Now on the other hand- All military members and their families etc... Can both join NFCU and ANY bank in the US if they so chose. Of course CUs are mandated to make money for their members but they really can't compete with each other like banks. It was designed that way intentionally.
I agree in theory that competition doesn't equate to making money (though in a free market economy...); however, in this case they may not compete with each other (though there are some overlapping demographics regardless) but they absolutely compete with traditional banks and other financial institutions.
A non-profit in many cases is just as much about making money as a for-profit company, they simply aren't taking their surplus revenues as profit or distributing as dividends or other such financial vehicles.
I promise you working for a non-profit we absolutely try to make as much money as possible 
.
@Revelate wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Very interesting!
Do you think there would also be objections from other CUs about increased competition from larger CUs?
Hi! because CUs are non- profit, they do not compete. Therefore most CUs actually work together through an organization called CU Service Centers. Many are on this network (though NFCU does not participate and I have solicited them to please do so) and it allows one to go into any participating CU and do pretty much any banking you need as if one is in one's own CU. Pretty nifty actually. 2 of my CUs participate and I have used the system all over the US. You can google "Credit Union Service Centers" and see a list of all participating CUs.
Actually just because a CU is non-profit (or any other organization with this status for that matter) doesn't mean they're not in the business of making money, and absolutely compete against the rest of the market as a result.
I actually work for an organization which some would likely be slightly surprised to find that it's a non-profit... but everyone would think it patently absurd if anyone stated that we weren't out to make money, and they'd be 100% correct.
Hey Rev!
making money and competing are not one in the same. Obviously, CUs would like to expand their base but unlike banks, they are limited in their ability to do so. For example, my employment CU does not compete with NFCU for the same members except for maybe on a very small scale like my situation but for the most part- the 2 have a very different niche. i would venture to say that 99.5% of the individuals that are members of NFCU can't join the other or vice versa and likely do not actively seek to do so because they can't by law. So do they compete? In the purest sense of the word Yes for that probable .5%. Now on the other hand- All military members and their families etc... Can both join NFCU and ANY bank in the US if they so chose. Of course CUs are mandated to make money for their members but they really can't compete with each other like banks. It was designed that way intentionally.
I agree in theory that competition doesn't equate to making money (though in a free market economy...); however, in this case they may not compete with each other (though there are some overlapping demographics regardless) but they absolutely compete with traditional banks and other financial institutions.
A non-profit in many cases is just as much about making money as a for-profit company, they simply aren't taking their surplus revenues as profit or distributing as dividends or other such financial vehicles.
I promise you working for a non-profit we absolutely try to make as much money as possible
I agree- I don't think we've said anything different. . Where in any of my posts have I stated that non-profits aren't out to make as much money as possible? Quite the opposite in fact. I've stated that CUs are mandated to make as much money as possible to reinvest back into their members in the form of lower rates, higher limits and higher interest on savings accounts. I'm simply saying, CUs as non-profits, actually have a unique situation that allows then to cooperate as one in completion with banks, not each other. If you read the premise of the shared branch system the CUs use, the CUs that participate on some websites actually quote that the reason they can do this is because they are non-profit and not in direct completion with each other. I found this interesting. At what bank can one go in and make a deposit or withdrawal to/from an account owned by another institution anywhere in the US at a teller as if it was one's own bank? One can't. Only at a CU can one do this. I do it all the time. I can go into CU "x" and withdraw funds from my account In CU "y" and the CUs are linked by a network that allows the teller to access all my accounts as if I was in my own CU "y". Hope this makes sense. I love CUs and tout their praises when ever possible.