What Is A Credit Union?
Credit unions are not-for-profit, full-service financial institutions that focus on local communities. They help you save, spend, and borrow, much like a bank. Yet, profits don't end up on the pockets of people you'll never meet, instead they're shared with members like you in the form of better rates and lower fees.
How Are Credit Unions Different?
Credit unions are financial institutions similar to banks but member-owned. Credit unions are nonprofit entities that aim to serve their members rather than seek to earn a profit for shareholders. This is what makes a credit union unique. When you deposit money into a credit union account, you become a member and an owner: a member-owner. The credit union uses the money deposited by you and other members to make loans to our credit union members in need, much like a bank.
A credit union’s goal is to serve its members by offering better rates on savings products and lower interest rates on loan products. Credit unions may also offer lower fees and services tailored to your financial goals.
As a not-for-profit, credit unions aren’t focused on squeezing money out of members. Those profits go back to you. You can expect to earn more and pay less.
Without shareholders to appease, the attention stays on you. Credit unions exist to serve and support members. That includes you, your family, and the place you call home.
Communities are made up of individual people working together to improve all that is around them. Credit unions keep the focus where it belongs. Right here.
You get to vote on key issues such as board elections, mergers, and more. It doesn’t matter how much money is in your account. Everyone is equal. One member, one vote.
Credit unions are federally insured through the NCUA, offering a safe place for deposits up to $250,000 per share owner, per credit union.
Nope. They have more than a century of proven reliability and service. The first credit union in the United States opened way back in 1909.
Yes. Through the shared networks, such as CO-OP Shared branching, you can access your account by walking into one of the 5,000+ credit union branches and use 30,000* surcharge-free ATMs, covering all 50 states and 10 other countries.
Yep. The latest technology isn’t just for the big banks. Although each credit union is different, you can expect to access your money from anywhere, at any time.
Credit unions keep a local focus. In addition to regular community involvement, credit unions loan money to many of your neighbors and your favorite local businesses.
Credit unions are federally insured through the NCUA, offering a safe place for deposits up to $250,000 per share owner, per credit union, for each account ownership category: Individual, Joint, Trust, and Retirement.