10. Credit Unions

10. Credit Unions

After many years of dealing with a variety of banking institutions, we have finally come to the realization that Credit Unions are the only way to go. After our last bank decided to delay a deposit until the evening, then post the highest debit transaction first, so that the smaller transactions hit for overdraft fees, we were done. I had never seen such a blatant disregard for the customer. At that time, we were only using the account as a spending account, so of course they did not care what we thought. We were basically shopping for a local banking institution to use for our regular spending and saving. This was the last in a long string of issues with banks. We had been with our credit union for more than 15 years and had never had anything like this occur.

We then began really looking into the benefits of the credit union and here is what we discovered:

1. No debit overdrafting - if you don't have the funds in your account, your purchase is denied (without having to submit a special request)
2. On average, they have better rates and lower fees.
3. As not-for-profits, they have lower costs and pass the savings along to members
4. Every member is an owner; there is no question whose interests are being served.
5. Years ago, the online services were not that great; however, today, our credit union has amazing online options (web bill pay, online deposits, mobile apps, etc.) 
6. With the CU network, there are multiple ATMs across the nation (that do not charge fees).

These are just a few of the benefits of using a credit union. For money saving we have calculated that the credit union actually costs us about half of what it would cost us to use a bank for the same services.

For more information on credit unions check out this web site: http://www.creditunion.coop/

Until tomorrow!