Why are credit unions so attractive in the United States?
According to the U.S. National Credit Union Association, the number of consumers of their services has recently officially crossed 100 million. The reasons are obvious - people have simply become disillusioned with banks. Other reasons include the banks' desire to make as much money as possible on debit cards, not to mention other extortions.
Who's really leaving?
Where are the reasons credit unions are really popular? No, it's not consumers turning away from banks - it's just that banks don't see fit to spend their time and resources on not-so-wealthy Americans. They're not ideal customers - not enough money, not doing enough deals. And in return, they get a lot of extra fees, which the banks tried to use to make up for the lost profits.
You should pay for everything
Separately, we should talk about rates for those who don't have extra money to save. No money to maintain a minimum account balance? Penalty. Didn't make an extra statement of account (and it's also paid) and as a result you spent more than you had? Again the penalty. The penalty for an overdraft is greater than the fee for using it.
Many banks even charge a monthly fee "for services" only on the basis of an open account - for example, customers Citibank, such a fact cost $10 each month. Avoid such costs can be - you need to maintain a minimum account balance of fifteen hundred and fifty and make a month at least one transaction. True, for many Americans, this is not an option.
Plus the inconvenience
Again, not every American employer transfers wages to an employee-designated bank account. This means that you will need to deposit money into the account yourself in order to maintain your balance. The list of reasons why having a bank account is financially disadvantageous could go on and on. Oh yes, and also the unreliability of customers, indicated by returned (unpaid checks) or overdrafts as an inability to calculate their finances. Entering information about such clients in the unified database, banks just get an opportunity to screen out in advance those who promise them certain risks. This means that such clients will not be able to get (open) either deposits or loans. And microcredit is very expensive. What to do? Right, go to where they will be glad, in a credit union.
Credit unions are ready for concessions. Banks aren't
And credit unions are only too happy to see their customer base grow. And to support the trend are ready to make all sorts of concessions. For example, fifty of the largest credit unions have already canceled all account checking fees (remember, members of credit unions are not just the borrowers?). But the banks are not going to make such concessions - for them poor Americans are not the best choice, because they can't make money on such clients. And that's why regulators and analysts need to get their focus right - it's not consumers who prefer credit unions (for a variety of reasons). It's the banks that are turning their backs on their potential customers.
The U.S. National Credit Union Administration (NCAU) has authorized its members to enter into partnerships with third-party organizations to add the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. NCAU performs the same role with respect to federally insured credit unions (FICUs) with federally insured accounts as the OCC does with respect to U.S. national banks.
