Why you should join the local Credit Union
 

There are lots of reasons to join your local credit union. I'm a member of the credit union here in Seattle, and I've *NEVER* been disappointed with my decision. To be clear I have lots of banking options here, all the major banking firms have numerous branches here, there are plenty of small local banks too. The rules in Washington for credit union membership are very liberal. Time was, you had to be a member of this union, or that trade group, or affiliated with this set of employers. No more. If you're a resident of the State of Washington, you're eligible for membership in any credit union chartered in the state.

So join up!

Why?

There are lots of reasons, we'll discuss them as we go, but mostly because you won't have to deal with shit like this from banks. Like: I have to say poor Bank of America just... doesn't seem to get it. They may have a great product/service, but it doesn't suit me. Recently they tried to charge their customers $5 for using a BofA branded debit card. This backfired badly since folks strenuously objected to being charged to use their own money, and justifiably so. This new story is just more of the same.

Imagine having some cash money and taking it to the bank, say... BofA to deposit. But they *charge you a fee to deposit the cash*. Yeah, you can't make this shit up. They're charging you money to accept your money.
You know what this reminds me of? Ticks. Parasites. "Hey, this big boy won't notice this little pinprick. He'll never miss just a sip. Emphasis on prick. Fuck you. Find another place to harvest your crop/shareholder value.

well duh

AND YET!

BofA has millions of customers.

"duh" and millions of customers. If they're so stupid, where are they getting their money?

Well, fees are waived for people with enough balance/direct deposit etc. And lines move faster, they're open on holidays and they're faster and easier to deal with. And their online statement work better. But if you don't have a decent balance and direct deposit, or the nouse to use those to get fees waived, then yes, you need a credit union. Online is really the way to go, though.

(I regularly bank with three big name banks, three credit unions and one online bank fwiw, and one of the credit unions is notably better than the other two. But still lacking behind the banks in speed of service -and national availabily)

And the credit unions charge more for checks, so you end up using a non-local check printing service.

National availability is definitely a point in favor of big banks, *if* that's something you need. I don't travel so far that my credit union can't do what I need to do for me. I don't travel across the country, I don't have a need to visit a branch across the country. So, while I agree that BofA's geographical footprint far surpasses that of my local credit union, that represents useless excess for me. I won't use it, I don't need it and I certainly don't want to pay for it.

I've been with Citadel FCU for EVER

love them

free everything as long as I move my paychecks through there. I have online bill payer, and all that shit.

Yep. We only use our credit union.

I just added a poll. Go crazy.

Many credit unions also participate in a National Shared Branch program. 4,433 locations nationwide. There are, for example, two credit unions in Ann Arbor that I could do business with if I happened to travel there, because they have an agreement with my local credit union.

Oh, I use a local bank too. I forgot about them. They have huge plusses and huge minuses. Not much in the middle. They were able to make accomodations for our specific needs, but their charges -when they apply- are large. And their online services are still teething.....

I was with a local bank for about 10 years then joined the CU when I got a new job which gave me that option. After I got divorced I went with Commerce which was bought by TD Bank. I'm still there, but will be going with a CU very soon.

Dishier tellers at my CU

We use a regional bank, but I checked off national in the poll, since they are in numerous states. Used to be a local bank, but they got bought out.

We don't pay any fees. Although I think we had to pay a little to get the checks printed last time.

If we used another bank's atm, there might be a fee for that, but they are big enough that we never have to.

I'm all for CUs in theory, but my reality experience has tempered that somewhat. kind of the same with shopping locally -sometimes the delay and loss of quality just isn't worth it, even though the idea of it is far nicer and I'd rather buy from people I know/might know one day.

You funny Americans, as if your US$ were worth anything anyway. ;)

That's so very true.

I switched from 5/3 (and what kind of name is that, anyway???) to my local CU and have been much happier. Way better service, they know who I am, lower fees, free checking and a great on-line service. I do not have to maintain a certain amount in my accounts for these services, either.

5/3 is being sued in a class action suit for re-arranging the way checks and debits hit your account to provide maximum overdraft charges. I joined the suit. Even if it nets me zero I'll be glad to see those bloodsuckers get a wake up call. They've been screwing people over for decades. AND their service is teh suxeth.

Oops. Spoke too soon. Europe just got jittery about debt, went risk averse, and moved into greenbacks*. As a result one US$ is almost exactly one AU$ right now.


*Which indicates by "jittery" I mean "running scared".

Zen: check your PM

I use a large CU for my banking, but it is found in most states so I call it a national CU. My wife uses BofA for her banking because she didn't qualify for my CU until we married. My only complaint is availability. If you're lucky, there is one branch in your city. My branch is almost two hours away by highway. I can withdraw via ATM at any 7-11 without a fee so that isn't too bad. But the CU claims they are looking to open a location on my side of the Metroplex so that will make in-person banking easier.

She wants to change over most of her accounts from BofA to the CU because there are lower/fewer fees and often better service, but at least one account has to stay where it is for technical reasons. My CU offers online banking, online bill pay and just about everything I want to do right in my living room. I like my CU, which I joined twenty years ago and have used for paychecks as well as my pension checks ever since.

I voted national bank however, because there was no option for national CU and since we is a pair now, I do banking through BofA too. But I won't cry to see them go.

Online banking - do not want

That's the way I felt too, until... I had to buy more paper checks.

I set up a few online payments, and it worked so well I added more
Now, my paper checks are just for tax payments and urgency pays.
We still get paper statements, mainly to document payments.

Try it, you might like it :)
.

Yeah, I held out for a really long time. (At least for the bill pay option, I'd been checking my balance and that sort of thing online for years.) But one day I screwed up and had one more bill due and no more checks. So I went ahead and did it just for that one. And then I really wished I'd done it years ago. It's not automated, I still tell it who to send a check to and for how much, but now I just choose the address from a drop-down menu and type the dollar amount in instead of writing everything by hand and licking envelopes and putting on stamps.

We do have various automatic bill payments set up. But we did them the old fashioned way by filling out paper forms and mailing them in. My fears are that I know for a fact that my computers have been compromised by viruses in the past, so I don't want any link between my computers and my money. I can't guarantee the security of my computers.

I admit that I don't know the inner workings of online banking, but that one fundamental fact keeps me away. I don't trust my end.

Her name is Julia Gillard, she's been PM for a year and a bit now. Why?

Oh, P - M .

Nothing from you, though. Uh????