Credit unions are profoundly different from banks, finance companies, check cashing firms and other for-profit organizations.
Why?
Because they do not exist to harvest profits from customers and deliver those profits to third-party stockholders on Wall Street. They exist only to provide good value and good service to their members, who are also the owners.
Credit unions believe that being a “member” offers a higher plane of existence than just being a “customer.” Members have a right to expect better service than what customers get. Customers don’t own the place. Credit unions truly believe that a member should get better service because he or she does own the place.
Credit unions are designed to put member service first. They are chartered under different laws than for-profit firms. Their boards are elected by the members. And each member gets one vote. In for-profit firms, the ones with the most money get the most votes. People matter most at credit unions. Profits matter most at for-profit firms.
Today, 92 million Americans and 1.8 million Georgians choose to belong to credit unions. Here’s what they have discovered:
Value: Members know that credit unions are committed to offering lower loan rates, higher savings yields, and fewer and lower fees overall. Between June 2010 and June 2011, this resulted in a savings of nearly $115 million to Georgia credit union members. In addition, 90 percent of America’s credit unions have free debit card programs.
Convenience: Members have access to more than 24,000 surcharge-free ATMs and more than 6,700 shared branches nationwide. Many credit unions offer Web-based home banking, allowing members to check balances, view their account histories or transfer funds online. And most offer online bill payment. A growing number offer mobile banking and account aggregation services that show all your bills in one place.
Survey after survey shows that members like their credit unions better than “customers” like their banks. People trust credit unions to give them good advice. They trust credit unions to give them the best deal — lower fees, lower loan rates and better savings rates.
The credit union difference is real.
And everybody is eligible to become a member of some credit union. Ask consumer advocates. They’ll all tell you the same thing.
Mike Mercer is president and CEO of Georgia Credit Union Affiliates.
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