What is the diffrence between a credit union and a bank?

Question

What are the advatges and disavantage and beniffites of both?

The only thing that is that my bank "BB*T" is extreamly close to my house like walking distance but my credit union wich I am thinking of joining "Fairfax Credit Union" is about 10-15 miniutes from my house so what would you advice me to do? Stay with my bank or move to the credit union or keep my bank and just open a new account with my credit union? Like what are the advatges over a credit union then a bank?

Answer 1

Here are some other things you should know about banks and credit unions:

Credit unions may often offer you a higher interest rate on the money you deposit (your savings), and a lower rate on the money you borrow (your loan), than banks.

Credit unions are nonprofit and are owned by the people, or “members,” who use their services. Members pay a one-time membership fee (can be as little as $5), and can vote on how the credit union is run. Banks are for-profit, publicly-traded companies that are owned by the stockholders (who vote), but the bank is used by the customers. There is no membership fee at banks.

Credit unions used to be just for people who had the same employer, but now they’re also for members of the same school, church, organization, or community. Banks don’t have any requirements on who can use their services. Here are two sites that can tell you how to find a credit union to join: Credit Union Match Up and 7 Ways to Join a Credit Union

Credit unions are usually smaller than banks, may not have as many branches or ATMs, and may not offer the large variety of services that banks offer. But many credit unions belong to a network of credit unions, so members can use the services of other credit union branches and ATMs instead of just their own.

Answer 2

The key difference between the two is that a credit union is managed by it's members (customers) regardless of how much money you have in account(s) with them. Each member has one vote in determining the Board of Directors. Whereas, with a bank only those customers with huge amounts of money on deposit are allowed to vote/serve on the BOD. Banks typically charge all sorts of stupid fees that credit unions "typically" fail to charge their customers.

There are exceptions of course to most rules. Federal Credit Unions (FCU - you should see that on their literature and such or just call them and ask) are the best credit unions because they aren't allowed to charge nutty fees for services. Community Credit Unions are starting to slip back into the practice of charging fees just like traditional banks.

My advice: find a good FCU credit union and do your personal banking there. Some credit unions allow business accounts but you have to hunt to find them. They are still better than traditional banks and you'll find good deals on loan should you need to buy a vehicle or home or whatever.

Answer 3

A credit union is owned by the people who make depsits in it where a bank is a privately run institution. My Uncle belonged to a Credit Union when he was in the army. One advantage is that interest rates on savings are higher than the banks.