by Ken Tumin

Last week I asked “How Much of Your Bank Deposits Are Held At Internet Banks?” Out of 98 readers who voted, 58% responded that they had at least 70% of their deposits at internet banks. Some commenters in that post suggested asking another question in a poll: what percentage of your deposits are held at banks vs credit unions? That was a good idea. So for today’s poll, how much of your deposits are held at credit unions as opposed to banks?

This poll should be more straightforward than last week’s poll. There are only two types of institutions in the U.S. that can hold federally-insured deposits: banks and credit unions. For simplicity, I include thrifts in the bank category. Thrifts (also called savings and loan associations) are FDIC-insured just like banks, and from a depositor point-of-view, they can be considered equivalent.

Last week’s poll was complicated by the definition of internet banks. As several readers mentioned in the comments, the definition of an internet bank is a little fuzzy. Some might define an internet bank as any institution where they open accounts online rather than at a branch. Others may define it as a bank that has no branches and only takes deposits from the web.

How Total Bank and Credit Union Deposits Compare

Banks still hold a much larger percentage of overall deposits as compared with credit unions.

I was able to get some numbers from the FDIC and NCUA. The following shows how total deposits at all credit unions and banks have changed from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2012:

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