Anyone a part of one? Any other opinions about them?

My money has been tied up in more traditional systems pretty much since I was born, but if that didn't exist I'd be quite intrigued about credit unions. Just thought I'd try to spur some discussion.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/201001 ... ost/436182

Move Your Money: Where Populist Fervor Meets Friendly Faces
Julian Hattem – Mon Jan 25, 6:53 pm ET

Huge bonuses to bank executives, casino-style financial practices and millions of unreturned stimulus dollars have made many consumers angry at the nation's biggest banks and looking for a way out.

Daniel Mica knows just where they should go. The president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association said in an interview with the Huffington Post that he hopes "the cold shock-wave" of populist fervor sweeps the financial system and leads customers to credit unions.

And consumers will find that switching won't just be an effective protest, it will also be a change for the better, he says. "At a credit union they treat [you] like a person, not a number," Mica said, because smaller financial institutions don't have the "dismissive arrogance" of the largest banks.

Indeed, more and more people are joining credit unions every day. Mica said that over the last year credit unions have had a two percent growth rate -- higher than the population rate, and the quickest pace that credit unions have seen in a decade -- and searches to find local credit unions have tripled in recent weeks.

The move reflects a growing disillusionment with the nation's largest banks, a sentiment that has been captured by the Move Your Money campaign, which urges people to close their accounts with the six big banks that engaged in sophisticated financial maneuvers and move to a safe and solvent community bank or credit union. It urges people fed up with the big banking system to take politics into their own hands.

It's "the beginnings of people voting with their feet and their wallets and taking money out of banks," Mica said. "And we hear stories [like that] every single day."

He can appreciate the movement's grassroots growth. "It's not just Democrat-Republican, I think that's clear," he added. "I travel the country on behalf of credit unions. We have 93 million members. I've been to every state in the United States multiple times and I listen to Main Street every single day. People are very upset. We talk finance, we talk pocketbook issues, and they're very concerned." He's praised credit unions on YouTube as well.

As to those stuck with the big banks because of their mortgages? "What they need to do is pick up the phone or get on a website and go to their local credit union," he said, "and ask if someone will come down and talk to them about moving their mortgage and what they can and can't do."

The movement is not about destroying the big banks in general, he said; more like putting them in their place: "This country needs a strong financial system including banks and credit unions, but when banks become impervious to public concerns, to the crying needs of America's economy and go off on their own, they need to have their hands slapped and they need to be redirected. We didn't have this situation for a long time in this country, but they became so powerful with so much money that they were able to get their way in Congress and with the regulators for the past dozen years, that they've gotten out of control. And this is all about getting them back in the box and serving America and consumers, not just themselves."

Unlike banks, credit unions are not-for-profit enterprises owned by their members. They pride themselves on lower loan rates and better savings rates, but membership is not open to everyone (though the vast majority of people probably can find a credit union for them, qualifications vary and can be based on employment, residence, religion or some other category -- people should check with their local credit to see if they are eligible). Like banks, they are insured by the federal government (the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund). People can use the CUNA's website to find nearby institutions.

"We'll always find a complaint here and there about a credit union, but 99.9 out of 100 people are happy to put a bumper sticker on their car that says 'I love my credit union,'" he laughed. "That is not the case about banks."

i joined redstone federal last summer, kris...mainly just for the convenience though

I'm a proud member, too. I maintain a balance of about ~$50 just to have access to low-rate loans.

yeah, right

The Loan Rates are usually pretty great.

They are a much smaller feel and they do seem most often to treat you better than the giant banks.

I have a couple of IRA's with a Credit Union. I was banking there too for quite a while.

My major issue is the lack of convenience. They didn't allow me to do much online at the time though that has changed a bit they still don't allow address changes and the other stuff you hate to go into the bank for. Also they had maybe 3 branches in the state none of which were close so doing something at the bank required a half day off work. That's just ridiculous.

Hopefully and this is the best situation is when you work in the same general location as a branch. Because it's member owned you can have a say in the workings of the credit union so that can be advantageous too.

it's the opposite for me...you can do a lot online and there's a branch seemingly around every corner

i didn't really research savings rates and such, but just wanted a place convenient and stable

I've been pretty much exclusively using a credit union for my entire life (until I opened up an ING Direct account for my savings, I never had money in a bank). Their online features may not be up to what you'd get from a large bank, but they suit my purposes.

Our first home loan was with my credit union. It was fast, easy, and cheap. We found a better rate on a later refi. The signing two twice as long and then the financing company asked that we backdate some materials so our lawyer called it off, and we had to start again from scratch. It was a miserable, long process and then the company went under and another group bought our mortgage. That led to 2 months of lost mortgage checks and a fine from my town due to late taxes paid out of escrow.

If we ever refi again, we're going right the fuck back to the credit union.

I've been a member of various credit unions for pretty much all my life. My current CU has online banking services that match anything offered by a traditional bank, and is a participant in the CU network that allows me to use any credit union ATM anywhere without a fee, so I'm not totally tied down in terms of locale. Got a great rate for re-financing my car loan there, as well.

Virtually everyone can find at least one credit union that they qualify to become a member of, the restrictions are just not nearly as tight as they once were. I highly recommend it.

I have most of my savings in a credit union. The checking account is just for monthly expenses. It was real great 5 years ago when CDs were worth something...

How do these typically work when you travel and need cash from an ATM? That's the main reason I've stuck to a national bank (US Bank).

I switched to my wife's credit union when we got married and we got a nice mortgage rate thru them. The savings rate is above average also.

If it's in the Credit Union network (forgot what it's called), you can use the ATM of any credit union in the network. And there's also a regular ATM with a fee if you need it; consider I only withdraw cash about once a year, a $2-$3 fee doesn't really bother me.

I don't know about credit unions but I know some small community banks sometimes have policies of no-ATM fees or ATM fee reimbursement.

Right on the CU network.

Though frankly i don't find I need cash that often. If I expect I will, I make sure I have it with me before leaving. Plus, you can go into any store anywhere these days and do a debit transaction getting cash back.

CUs are generally better than banks I would think, but don't assume that any one CU will be better than any one given bank. The article glosses over the fact that they're not for profit rather than non-profit. They can and do try to make a profit from their members, and even though it is technically owned by members, really when is the last time anyone here actually went to a board meeting at their credit union? Practically speaking they're run by the board of directors and CEO/Presidents, just like banks. This is especially true for the big ones.

I work at a CU, and we're better than most, if not all, banks around here, but there are some other ones that are just as shady as the big evil banks.

I love my credit union. I have been with them for over 20 years. In fact the last 4 years I've got a dividend deposit based on the profits the CU made. I would never join a bank over my credit union.

This is an excellent point. You want to try to find the balance between a local credit union and one that is too small to be especially effective.