People need banking institutions in order to receive their paycheck, pay bills, as well as to organize their finances. There are for most people, two basic choices when it comes to their banking needs – which are having an account with a traditional bank, of which nowadays a lot of these banks are national in character; or to do business with a local credit union, which provides basically the same services as banks but typically are more consumer friendly, by charging lower fees and by permitting low account balances without penalty -- while also having very competitive interest borrowing rates as well as having competitive saving rates, and finally credit unions are non-profit in their structure.
It would seem then that most people would thus go to the low-cost choice when it comes to their banking needs, especially in the sure knowledge that non-profit organizations are going to by their very structure, be institutions that are able to provide to their members, a better overall package. Yet, though there are plenty of people and businesses that do utilize credit unions, the bottom line is that national banking institutions are in an entirely different financial assets league and demonstrate such through their huge aggregate market capitalism, their market share, their credibility, their influence, and their overall impact upon consumers and even the economy.
The advantage of using a non-profit credit union is that the structure of those credit unions is created around those that are its depositors, which are the actual members of that credit union, and further to the point, the efficiencies of a given credit union, aren’t siphoned away from those credit union members so as to become profits to that credit union, but are, in essence, returned to those that are its members, by virtue of that credit union’s lower fees and lower expenses. Additionally, credit unions, because they are typically local within a particular community, city, or State, are going to do a far better job of re-cycling the money that is deposited within their premises, so as to be of benefit to that same community, at large.
After all, because national banks are for-profit institutions, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that for-profit businesses essentially make their money or their profit, off of all those that are its consumers. So then, in the banking business, this means that banks basically make their money off of those that utilize those banks; whereas, for non-profit credit unions, because they are member-owned and member-supported, their overriding mission is to provide a good service to those that are its members, above all.
Perhaps because credit unions aren’t really known for doing a whole lot of soliciting, whereas banks are quite adept at not only doing a lot of advertising, but also soliciting people through direct mail or other means; and of which, banks are also known for their endless promotions and come-ons, that perhaps then, all that solicitation does indeed make a difference to the choice that an individual makes, or if not, at least places into the consumer’s mind, that such and such national bank, is more credible or more secure, than a local credit union. Whatever that it is, is quite unfortunate, for credit unions, represent the superior product typically for a whole swath of consumers, especially those that cannot afford to be nickeled and dimed, but suffer from such, consistently.