Big Banks, Big Fees

BIG BANKS BIG FEES Why Credit Unions Save Cash On 2011's "bank transfer day," some 600,000 people abandoned big banks for small community banks or, in many cases, credit unions. If you've ever found yourself fed up with your big bank, you're not alone. What's the difference between a bank and a credit union? BANK For profit organizations; they stem from one person or one organization who's made an investment in the business. CREDIT UNION Not-for-profit organizations; they typi- cally center around one organization, union, or company and are cooperatively "owned" by members. Credit unions aren't making money off of you. Average CEO salary: $353,000 $77,500 Bank Credit Union IJJ. J. And banks are usually bigger... much bigger. The average bank size, measured by how much money it handles, is: The average credit union size is: $1.9 BILLION $132 MILLION (Fourteen times smaller) Just one of the nation's 4 largest banks alone handles more money than the entire credit union movement: JPMorgan Chase & Co. $2.3 Trillion I00 Bank of America Corp. ID0 $2.2 Trillion Citigroup Inc. $1.9 Trillion I00 Wells Fargo $1.3 Trillion ID0 Entire credit union movement $963 Billion Credit unions are smaller and more personal than banks. What else do they offer? LOWER FEES On average, the largest credit unions have smaller fees than the largest banks: Average online monthly bill payment fee: Fee to use another Overdraft: bank's ATM: Bank: $6.95 Credit union: $0 Bank: $2.21 Bank: $34.48 Credit union: $1.07 Credit union: $27.82 LOWER LOAN INTEREST RATES Loan Interest Rate Averages: Credit union Bank 48 Month Personal: Reward Credit 2 Year Used 5 Year New Home Equity Cards: Auto: Auto: LOC: 11% 13.3% 3.7% 5.3% 3.5% 5% 10.6% 10.8% 4.4% 4.7% HIGHER YIELDS ON SAVINGS The average CU account accrues 35% higher interest than a bank account of the same type. Thanks to these benefits, the average credit union member saved $131 more than the average big bank member during 2011. A credit union could keep you from being squashed by a big bank. Sources: [1) http://www.cuna.org/download/combanks_cus.pdf [2] http://www.nedap.org/cusbanks.pdf [3] http://www.cuna.org/initiatives/ncua_data/download/modest_exec_comp.pdf (4] http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/06/07/americas-biggest-banks-jpmorgan-trumps-bank-of-america-again/ This work is under a Creative Commons license. Brought to you by: CREDITSCORE BY NO ND