Last week, for the third year in a row, I got an email from my credit union telling me that they were going to deposit a portion of their profits into my account.  When typical banks earn profits, they portion that money out to their shareholders in the form of dividends.  In the case of a credit union, however, the shareholders are the people who have their accounts there.   And my credit union, wanting to pay back the shareholders, has been sharing their profits for each of the last three years.  And this is only one of the many reasons that I love my credit union.

I switched from a bank to a credit union several years ago when I was discouraged by the very low interest rates being paid on my savings.  (This was before the bottom fell out of interest rates at the end of the last decade—now no one is earning much in interest on their savings!)  But I’ve never regretted the decision to make the move.  I’ve found that day to day banking life is just easier and better with my credit union than it was with my old bank.  Online banking services are free.  They never charge me to use an ATM, and they will reimburse me up to $20 per month in ATM fees charged by other banks.  They made it easy for me to set up transfers to and from other banks.  I can deposit checks with my smart phone or by mail.  They make automatic transfers and online bill paying very easy.

Many people think that you need to have a bank that is local.  I disagree.  The closest branch of my credit union is 100 miles away, and it’s never been a problem for me.  I set up my account initially by mail.  I made deposits by mail for years until the smart phone technology came around.  I get money by ATM (I prefer the fee-free machines at Sheetz).  Most of my transactions are either electronic or by plastic.  I’ve applied for loans with my credit union online and completed the paperwork by mail and fax.  It’s very easy in today’s world to live without a bricks and mortar banking institution, so that should not be a deterrent for anyone.

The one catch with credit unions is that you must qualify for membership.  It may be tied to where you work or go to school.  You may have to have membership in a certain organization in order to qualify to join the credit union.  You may have to live in a certain area.  So you’ll have to do a little digging to find out if you are eligible to join (though all Penn State students are eligible to join the Penn State Federal Credit Union).  But after the leg work is done, you’ll likely be happy with your banking experience.  And you may even get some cash back!