Who here uses a credit union?

AshleyBurf

I am thinking of moving over. Which one and why?

colsten

What are you looking for? Why have you narrowed your choice down to credit unions?

premierfella

It is also odd to be talking about which one. Most people would only have access to a few (I think I have access to around 5 through work and location, but even that number I think is higher than it would be for most).

agrinnall

Given the location on your profile this would seem to be an obvious answer. I'm not sure whether you can join a CU that is not in your area.

http://www.nottinghamcu.co.uk/

AshleyBurf

colsten wrote: »

What are you looking for? Why have you narrowed your choice down to credit unions?

I have just seen that in the USA that so many of the banks are giving access to the Dakota Pipe Line. I need to my research on UK banks but this is a moral issue. I don't want to be feeding a banking system that is screwing the planet.

FOREVER21

I have only once used a credit union, they had a very good interest rate on a cash ISA, unfortunately the rate was too good, and the credit union went into liquidation.
I had a number of sleepless nights as access to the account was frozen whilst the regulatory authorities investigated. As the savings were covered by the FSCS I eventually got all my money including interest.
So as long as you make sure the money is covered by FSCS you have peace of mind whilst often helping your local community.

colsten

I suggest you research how many credit unions have gone bust. There long list of them on the FSCS website. They should all be FSCS protected for their main offering but some of their products are not. They probably don't screw the planet as you put it, but some would quite happily screw their customers - as quite a few of us have experienced when EBCU became illiquid.

where_are_we

I saved with Penny Post Credit Union while working for Royal Mail and my experiences were positive - it was nice to correspond with real people on first name terms. You need to work for Royal Mail to join and you save regularly using a standing order and you are paid a dividend annually. It was protected by the Financial Services Protection scheme (£75000).

Anthorn

AshleyBurf wrote: »

I am thinking of moving over. Which one and why?

As previously stated, your options will be limited to what is available locally based on your locality or a job or profession. Check out the CU umbrella organisation, https://www.abcul.org/home

For example, the CU I'm a member of was originally for employees of the local co-operative society which was expanded and made available to all resident within a particular area. Where I used to work the "Loan Club" was expanded into a credit union.

I support my local credit union to support local people in my local community. It's also supported by local housing trusts whose tenants use the CU to pay their rent.

Lastly all credit unions are not all the same. Some larger CUs offer full current accounts while others are little more than loan clubs. The one I use offers savings, loans and a Christmas Club.

* a loan club is where members save and borrow paying interest and at the end of the year members get their savings back plus a share of the profits. A bit like a CU.

GingerFurball_2

I keep telling myself I should, if for no other reason than to help those less fortunate than me financially.

WillPS

Might also be looking at Building Societies, like Nationwide.