Credit Unions?

[hippyguy]

I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this thread, please move me if necessary.

I've noticed that alot of people on this sight are members of Credit Unions, I have been doing some reasearch and am starting to wonder if I should change my accounts over to a local CU. The savings interest rates are great, and the loan rates are pretty good as well ( looking very far down the road ). Do CU's accept customers in open BK ( 60 Day Club ). Just looking for opinons on the matter.

[chad9162]

Call and ask them...I think they care more about Chexsystems.....its mainly for banking to see if you bounced checks, etc..

[halloweendmb1]

can you check checksystems yourself?

[chad9162]

I don't know google them and see if they have a site

[queenbee]

I belong to two of them and think they suck! they did a cross collateral on us and we didn't know, we have had alot of problems with ours...companies charging stuff on our cards and then us disputing it took FOREVER to get the money back...the reg bank we have if I dispute something it is taken care of right away no problem

[hippyguy]

I belong to two of them and think they suck! they did a cross collateral on us and we didn't know, we have had alot of problems with ours...companies charging stuff on our cards and then us disputing it took FOREVER to get the money back...the reg bank we have if I dispute something it is taken care of right away no problem

Yikes, thats not good to hear. Seems like some people I talk to are big fans of most of the services, but a few people tell me that dealing with customer service at the local CU's is terrible. Even worse if it's after hours.

[StartingOver08]

Credit Unions are great. They are run entirely differently than banks. I happen to use both types.

The cross collateralization is true - but can be overcome. You just have to know about it. As to the poor service, that is a function of the branch/CU to which you may belong.
Banks have their version of cross collateralization too - its call the right of setoff. It has the same effect on your accounts - funds are taken from your account to offset a payment that is in default on a credit account with the same institution.

The best thing about CU's is they have actual human beings in charge of their branches! LOL - I always like being able to work with a human rather than fighting 'its bank policy'.

[chad9162]

I belong to two of them and think they suck! they did a cross collateral on us and we didn't know, we have had alot of problems with ours...companies charging stuff on our cards and then us disputing it took FOREVER to get the money back...the reg bank we have if I dispute something it is taken care of right away no problem

You can't really blame a financial entity for trying to recover assets under cross collateralzation. Personally, I've had nothing but good experiences with credit unions but just like bakns some are good and some are not.

Some credit unions charge a bunch of fees and some do not. Banks on the other hand charge for everything.

[hippyguy]

I guess I'll see this afternoon, I've called a couple and have an appointment with one a few miles from the house after work. We have alot in my area but most are limited to group memberships. What have I got to lose, I've been with the same bank for 13 yrs and they have never done anything for me. New start with a new bank, I like the sound of that.

[Keebler]

Yikes, thats not good to hear. Seems like some people I talk to are big fans of most of the services, but a few people tell me that dealing with customer service at the local CU's is terrible. Even worse if it's after hours.

You may not realize all of the credit union choices you have...

I've dealt exclusively with credit unions over the past 10+ years and I like them better than any of the big-name banks. After having tried a few, in a few different places I've lived, I agree that they're not all universally great.

My favorite was the first one I ever joined and I kept them for years even though I moved and they ended up being were more than 1,000 miles away from home. Unfortunately, I lost that membership due to a credit card and vehicle loan included in my bankruptcy.

The local credit unions here range from unexceptional to just plain lousy. I also lost my local credit union in bankruptcy due to another vehicle loan. I'm not too sad because they were not really that great but they were convenient.

Now I belong to TWO credit unions that are both more than 2,000 miles away and they're both far better than any other credit union I've known.

You may think I'm crazy to have a bank so far away but it's not as bad as you think. In fact, it gives me access to services that the local credit unions don't offer. One in particular has awsome on-line services that don't cost anything and they let me do everything you can imagine. I can even deposit checks from my computer at home!

This one credit union also belongs to a cooperative that lets me visit other participating credit unions and perform transactions as if I was at my own bank. The best part about this service is how I use several local credit unions as a guest and I've been able to see which ones are good and which ones are poor.

If you enjoy on-line banking and you're the kind that doesn't care if you actually GO TO the bank, then you should consider credit unions that aren't local.