MSN Money says, 'Ditch your bank for a CU'

REDMOND, Wash. (7/17/07)--If you're sick of getting hit with fees, earning poor interest rates and being treated like a "nuisance" by your bank, according to MSN Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston, it's time to leave and join a credit union.

Pulliam Weston's column, titled 'Ditch your bank for a CU,' appeared on MSNMoney.com on Monday. In it, she listed several distinctions between credit unions and banks, including these three: credit unions are member-owned, credit unions are not for profit, and banks hate credit unions, largely because credit unions are exempt from many state and federal taxes.
She cited statistics from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), stating that credit unions have a total of 90 million members nationwide, with savings of $8 billion per year because of reduced fees and better interest rates.

She also noted that credit cards issued by credit unions don't usually carry annual fees, ATM charges are usually less at credit unions, and that many credit unions offer free checking with penalties for overdrafts lower than those of banks (MSNMoney.com July 16). She also provided the average interest rates between the two--a credit card carries a 12.5% interest rate at a credit union compared with 15.08% at a bank.

Pat Keefe, vice president of communications at CUNA, also was quoted in Pulliam Weston's column, stating that "many people discover the benefits of credit unions almost by accident."
"They'll join because they can get a decent rate on a car loan and only gradually discover that the checking account has far fewer fees, the credit cards offer better interest rates, and the mortgages aren't bad, either," Keefe said.