What's the difference between a credit union and a regular bank?

Question

What's the difference between a credit union and a regular bank?

Answer 1

In short, a credit union is a not-for-profit institution while a bank is. Check out this site for a more detail explanation: http://www.bankaround.com/education/cred...

Answer 2

Credit unions are financial institutions, like banks. They offer many of the same products and services -- savings accounts, checking accounts, ATM/debit cards, credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, home equity loans, etc. The main difference from your viewpoint as a consumer is that you can become a customer of any bank, while credit unions can only serve people who fit in their "Field of Membership." Some credit unions are sponsored by a company and only the employees can join. There are numerous credit unions that have "community charters" which allow them to serve people who live within a defined geographic region (i.e. city, county, zip codes, etc.).

The best place to find a credit union that you can join is using the following website: http://www.creditunion.coop/cu_locator/i...

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 3

Try googling "credit union vs bank" you will get more than enough links to answer your question.