Credit Unions to Avoid Bank Fees?
Well, yes, and I wouldn’t blame anyone who chooses a credit union over a traditional, corporate-backed bank these days either, since the banking fees, including service fees, atm fees, and overdraft fees tends to be in the ridiculous amount are lately! I recently read that a lot of people are choosing to give up their regular banking and checking accounts in favor of smaller credit unions, which often give a much better break when it comes to not only banking fees, but also small loans.
I actually had a friend that bought a car years back who belonged to a credit union through her dad’s job, and she ended up using the credit union to secure financing for the car instead of going through the dealership’s in-house financing (much to their chagrin of course), and got a great deal on financing for the vehicle because of it, whereas with the traditional bank loan being offered by the dealer, she would have been paying a lot more in interest and fees.
I didn’t really understand why she went to the trouble at the time, because we all know how much easier it can be to go with an in-house banker, but now I do see why - she ended up saving hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in interest just by going with the smaller outfit to finance.
Some credit unions may even offer credit cards or lines of credit - it really depends on the size and financial stability of that particular credit union, but if you have a credit union offered through your place of work or some other organization you belong to, you may want to strongly consider a membership since being a member has great benefits usually. Of course, it does depend on the credit union itself, but typically that is why credit unions are appealing.
