hey everyone i was wondering if anyone could give me some info on credit unions. is there a website that rates credit unions? what should i look for? what kinda service could i expect? checking or savings? are there credit unions with many branches?
well as u could see i don't know to much so any info is helpful!thanks!
Perhaps you could tell us what you are looking for in a credit union.
I believe they are mostly like banks. Offer Checking, savings, ATM's and usually few branches. There is now a group of CU's that work together but are separate entities.
Say your CU is located in Michigan but has only one office and that is 50 miles from your home. There is the possibility that the CU next door to you participates in the program and you can use that CU as if it were your own.
I have several accounts with local Credit Union. Your deposits are insured by NCUA which is similar to FDIC. Credit Unions often offer better rates for savings and loans,or at least better terms. For example recently I bought some CDs with 3.05% interest at my credit union while Bank of America didn't offer anything even close to 3%. The other example is my mortgage which is 100% LTV,which nobody else was offering at the time.The interest rate was .375% higher than conventional,but there was no gimmicks involved and I only had to pay closing costs,which were lower than competitors'. Yet another example is my savings account with rates almost twice as high as Bank of America comparable product. Even my daughter has a "Cash and Coin" account where she gets a present for every deposit and coins are counted for free. The only reason I have a checking account with Bank of America is their many locations and ATMs around the country.The reason credit union can compete like this is that they are not-for-profit and all they want is to break even (at least that's how I understand it). There used to be some limitations on who can join but those are relaxed now and pretty much anyone can become a member. You can even Start Your Own credit union. So I would highly recommend yor check your area out and see what they have to offer.Here is a link to my credit union for reference: CACU
hey thanks to everyone that posted some info on CU. what im mainly looking for is lower fees.hopefully something near home, and next year or so i plan to buy a house.
Credit unions still have what are called "field of membership rules" that apply, although they have been quite liberalized in recent years.
In Cedar Park, TX (Austin metro area), for example, I can join the following credit unions in addition to the one available through my employer:
Randolph Brooks FCU (member of a Catholic church in the Austin Diocese)
United Heritage FCU (within 10 miles of one of their branches)
University FCU (graduate of UT)
Austin Telco FCU (resident of Cedar Park, TX)
There might even be a couple of others I don't know about. Like banks, credit unions have shareholders. These shareholders, however, are the credit union's members and users of its services. In fact, most credit unions even call the basic savings account that you are required to open in order to become a memeber a "share" savings account or something similar.
Someone mentioned that several CUs in their area have banded together and are running joint service centers. These are being run by an organization called the CU Service Centers Network. You can find a list of locations near your at http://www.cuswirl.com/pages/locations.htm
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