Comments on: Ditch your bank for a credit union

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:34:30 +0000

I broke up with Bank of America after 20 years as a protest and could not be happier.
I transferred my entire family’s checking, savings, credit cards and mutual funds for to USAA. https://www.usaa.com

I make deposits over my iPhone, get reimbursed for using other banks ATMS and because there is no minimum balance required for the checking accounts, I keep my money working for us by investing it. The customer is service is stunning. Often doing the right thing involves a sacrifice but in this situation we have won on every account (pun intended)

By: Jayne

Jayne — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:17:00 +0000

I too have account with “big banks” however, I am thinking of switching back to my credit union. When you have always made timely payments and been fiscally responsible and you end up paying for the abuse of management; for the management bonuses, something is wrong with the system.

By: lizweston

lizweston — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:49:15 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Brian. I’ve asked MSN to update the Find a Credit Union link in my column, which is out of date.

Full disclosure: I have deposit or credit accounts with four of the six big banks targeted in this campaign, and no immediate plans to move that business elsewhere since I’m generally happy with the level of service I get. But I strongly believe credit unions to be a viable alternative, particularly if you’re NOT pleased with the service you’re getting.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:06:22 +0000

I still refer people to your original article.

Many people believe credit unions aren’t convenient. Fact is that many credit unions have more locations and more ATMs than many of the largest banks. They belong to surcharge free ATM Networks (www.co-opfs.org, http://www.allpointnetwork.com & http://www.cu24.com) offering 20,000+ free ATM’s. And many credit unions belong to the Shared Branching Network, sharing their branches & offering their members access to over 3,900+ locations! http://www.cuservicecenter.com

Remember with credit unions, when you open an account, you become a member/owner. Open a bank account and you don’t become a stockholder, just a customer.

Looking for a credit union, here’s a locator: http://www.findacreditunion.com