What’s not to love aboutcredit unions? Lately, it’s become rather difficult to find any disadvantage to banking with a credit union over a traditional bank.
Gone are the days when not-for-profit financial institutions could only offer the most basic of services; now credit unions can provide their members everything from deposit accounts to home loans to insurance products — even services forinvesting in stocksand other securities.
Busting Credit Union Myths
These community financial institutions have been growing in popularity because of their ability to provide more competitive interest rates on savings accounts and loans, superior customer service and all around betterbankingexperience.
But it was a long road to reaching this reputation in the eyes of the general public, and credit unions are still struggling to quash a few persistent myths:
1. It’s hard to join a credit union:Even though credit unions have membership requirements that limit who can join, most are not very restrictive. In fact, many allow just about anyone who is local to the community the institution serves to join.
2. Access to branches and ATMs is limited:While it’s not uncommon for credit unions to only have a few or even just one branch, most are part of ATM and branch networks that share access with each other’s members. That means credit union members can still access their money even if they’re nowhere near an actual branch.
3. Credit union members enjoy fewer services:Quite the contrary — thebest credit unionsoffer all the same services you’d expect to find at a major bank, and recently, that includesdiscount brokerageand investment services.
Read more:Best Credit Unions in U.S. Offer Investing in Stocks
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