Banks? Who needs them.
I'm reading over these posts and I wonder why so many of you haven't seen the light (in a purely metaphorical sense, not adjudicating a evangelical institution) over banks. A bank is a corporation that's #1 goal is to make money. Plain and simple, like any other business. The only thing different is regulation and how they do it. That's why they have low interest rates on savings and high fines, levies and interest rates on loans.



There's a little financial institution I'd like to interest everyone to. It's called a "credit union". I know these are readily available in the US, and I believe they are in the UK though there's only a few of them.

Functionally, they're similar to a bank in that they hold money for you, give you interest, loans, etc. They're also corporations and are designed to make money. The key difference is that they are run by the members, rather than a business owner.

They also have tight regulations (again, this is the US I'm talking about, don't know about the regs for UK credit unions) that keep them from making too high of a profit margin. That means that income they get goes back to the members in the form of better services and interest rates. While interest rates are in the shithole now, a credit union will still offer substantially better interest rates on anything it offers than a regular bank. A guy I know at USbank (yes, that's their name) is only getting 0.1% interest on his savings, my credit union is getting 0.25%

What else? Well, any loans or loan-related services they offer (such as credit card issuance) will have better terms. That means you pay less interest on a loan, or get a credit card with low/no terms. My Visa that I have through my credit union has no interest and I only pay a small yearly fee for it. If you went through a bank they'll hit you with interest and steep fees.

So what's the catch? Well, to join a credit union you have to meet their membership qualifications, which usually entail living in a specific area (San Diego County Credit Union -- mine), being part of a specific organization (Navy Federal Credit Union -- any branch of the armed forces) or other requirements. Typically even if you move or leave the organization, as long as you continue to follow the charter rules, you can stay in the credit union indefinitely.


Seriously, banks are evil. Fuck 'em. Every one of them deserves to die and collapse under their own broken and immoral ways.


She didn't complain about length!
(Magus Zeal reloading since, Tue 21 Jul 2009, 18:48, 4 replies)

Credit Unions
The only down side to a credit union is that some go belly up, if they do, the depositers are not necessarily covered by legislation and so you could lose your savings.
Banks are covered by legislation.

Otherwise I agree with your comments, my gfs Credit Union even sends Christmas cards.
(Jimmyinnz was sprung at work on b3ta on, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 2:08, closed)

I too bank with a credit union
here in australia, and I can't recommend them highly enough.
(Captain Leeroy 'Hotdog' Zanzibar Fix it or Eat it!, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 2:38, closed)

can't say i agree
it doesn't matter if you're with a bank or a credit union it's all a bit swings and roundabouts with the fees in Oz.

Credit Union = $10 to send out new card if no longer functional
Normal bank = no charge for new cards, regardless of how many you order apparently and all fees waived if you pay in a certain amount each month.

For some reason I go through cards like nobodies business so stuff like this matters to me.
( bacon and egg roll is going to be big downunder, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 3:50, closed)

I believe we do already have something somewhat similar here
They're called Building Societies. I could be wrong though (and often am!)
(Potty Jag har smör i min rumpspringa, Wed 22 Jul 2009, 8:52, closed)