Here's a Concept:
Banks are not the only way to “bank.” And, honestly, banking to you probably means debit card (check), ATM nearby (check), online access to my account (check). If you get a fancy credit card design or a free cooler out of the deal – then yay, great.
Credit unions are different from banks. They have all the same stuff on your checklist, debit card (yep), ATMs (uh-huh), online stuff (affirmative). What’s different is who actually owns them, and it’s not corporate stockholders or big-banky-bank guys. It’s you.
Credit unions are owned by the actual members they serve (that’s the you part). No, you don’t have to sit at a big shiny table and discuss fiscals for the quarter. But your normal, everyday input and output into your account feeds into a financial organization that returns everything back to you. So, basically, you aren’t fattening anyone else’s wallet but your own. Yum.
Credit unions work this way because they are not-for-profit. They can turn their success into lower fees and better loan rates for you. And because they are not motivated by profit, they also tend to focus on financial education – helping their members make better choices about their money.
It’s this whole people-helping-people way of operating, and it’s definitely not the norm. And, by the way, it’s why Buck The Norm.com is not powered by a bank, but by a credit union: TFCU (Tinker Federal Credit Union). Financial empowerment for all.
