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Banks vs. Credit Unions - Important Information to Know Below:
Banks | Credit Unions |
Generate profit for stockholders. Make decisions based on what will give stockholders more profit. | Not for profit, not for charity, but for service. Without "profit motive," make decisions based on what's best for members. |
Commercial businesses. Offer services to make a profit. | Financial cooperatives. Members pool their savings to provide low-cost loans and low-fee services to each other. |
Serve customers from the general public. Anyone can use a bank. | Exist solely to serve their members. A person must be within the credit union's field of membership, as defined by their charter, in order to join. |
People who buy stock in the bank own shares of the business. | Each member is an equal owner. |
The Board of Directors are paid a salary. Daily operations are performed by a paid staff. | Unpaid volunteers from the membership serve on the Board of Directors and guide the credit union. Daily operations are performed by a paid staff. |
Only people who own stock can vote for the Board of Directors. The customers who use the bank don't have a say. | As owners, members elect fellow members to serve on the Board of Directors. |
Income is returned to the stockholders in the form of higher dividends on their shares of stock. | Income is returned to members in the forms of better savings rates, lower loan rates, and low or no fees for services. |
Like other for-profit businesses, banks must pay taxes to the government. | Like other not-for-profit institutions, credit unions are exempt from paying federal income tax. |
Deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC, a government agency. | Deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 by the National Credit Union Administration, a government agency. The NCUA's insurance fund is the healthiest of all federal deposit insurance. |