There are many reasons to choose credit unions rather than banks or other financial institutions and Canadian credit unions are no different. They offer better rates, a membership rather than a client relationship, and more free services than you see at other institutions. Also, members of a credit union have a different set of rights than those of other financial institutions.
When you belong to a credit union, you are no longer a client. You actually become a member of the union. You are afforded privileges that banks cannot allow to their customers and you also have the guarantee that credit unions cannot turn you away just because they want to.
Being a member of a credit union means that you are there to stay unless you go before a board and are legally removed from the union. If this does happen, the member is even afforded an appeal process to try to explain why they should be allowed to stay within the credit union as a member. This whole process has to go before a board to make everything legal and finalized. Something pretty drastic has to happen though for this process to even begin.
Another reason many people choose a credit union over a bank are for the financial benefits. Service fees are few and far between when joining a credit union. This usually means low or no checking fees and/or lower check prices. Membership fees are even lower than those that you usually see at a bank.
With a credit union, interest rates on all of their types of loans are typically lower than those from a bank. This includes house and home equity loans and car loans. Through the year, this could save you hundreds of dollars and over the course of the loan, thousands of dollars could be saved.
When you have a deposit bank account, or rather a checking or savings account, the interest rate at a credit union is normally higher than those at a bank or other financial institution. This allows you to gain cash back throughout the year without any work on your end. Well, except for having an account through a credit union, that is.
There are many different reasons why people join credit unions. There are legal, financial and social reasons that each person looks at differently. Whatever the reason that you may be considering, it must be looked at carefully before you come to a final decision on deciding your financial institution.
Visit this Canadian credit union guide and learn more facts about credit unions online.