I just filed my paperwork with the local credit union, and I’m done with big banks. The branch manager said business is booming over the Bank of America debit card fee. The advantage I see with big banks is technology — Citibank allows you to take a picture of a check with your cell phone and deposit it without going to the bank — but he told me they’re working on it now and should have that service within the next six months.
The thing they have that my big bank didn’t? I can make deposits with a debit card. Woo hoo!
I’ve belonged to a credit union for a long time and can’t say enough good things about it.
I’ve banked at credit unions for 30 yrs. Wouldn’t bank anywhere else.
I LOVE my credit union! Real people, good service! I don’t need all those bells and whistles. You should see their ATM, it’s archaic, but, I can use the ATM at most grocery stores w/o a fee! I left Walk-all-over-you a few years back…. very glad…..
I get a credit card through my credit union; significantly lower interest rate than the Big Name Cards.
Fuck big banks.
That’s all I have to say.
Credit unions have been great, but don’t forget that they are exposed to a lot of risk too. They deposit their funds with a super credit union (one that takes deposits only from credit unions) which lost a whole lot of money. While my credit union used to be great, they are now charging a lot more fees and changing their terms constantly. They used to offer incentives to switch to online banking, now they charge for the switch, and they delay payments for a couple days whereas the payments used to be almost immediate, but now when you make a payment an offer pops up asking if you want to pay $5 to speed up the payment.
Still better to take your money away from the too big to fail folks, but don’t count on it hurting them so much, and get ready for increased fees wherever you bank. At least they are smaller and don’t have the same politcal clout, which is a good enough reason to switch by itself.