Are Credit Unions Giving Good Value?

[oldtimer]

This morning I received my statement from the local credit union. They are giving a miserable 2% divided on savings. They are charging me over 9% on my loan but giving me a 15% rebate on the interest. Is this good value? Are credit unions not as good as they used to be? Are there better options available nowadays? To me they are not moving with the changing financial world.

 

[nelly]

got my statement too and they are much the same. Not the best value but i couldn't be without my account there either. The convienience of having someone ok a loan in a moment on a saturday morning is something i would like to have for as long as i can access it. Now i use Rabo for savings account, current account for lodging wages & paying mortgage etc but for small extra savings and borrowings i use the CU - it is what it is, no more no less.

 

[Jockey]

Hi guys,

Credit unions arent very good value for savings when you compare their rates to Anglo, BOS or AIB which around 6% although there loan rates are competitive in general. I have my car loan with my local credit union and the APR is 7.5% which is as good as you will get plus if you get into difficulty you can renegotiate terms and the car is yours from day one, highly likely to do the same with your local bank. Also they are open on Saturdays and as you said in your post who else would approve a loan on a Saturday morning, only your local dodgy loan shark!

 

[levelpar]

Hi, Yes, credit unions are handy for loans but I fail to see why they cannot charge much less interest than banks whose main concern is to make as much profit as possibe. I thought that we, credit union members, were running the show ,so why dont we give ourselves good dividends or cheap loans instead of ploughing millions into state of the art buildings and trying to ape the financial institutions. Come to think of it, did we squander millions with some failed computer system or other?