'For better banking, check out a CU'--Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK (8/28/08)--A columnist for the The Wall Street Journal is urging consumers to move their account to a local credit union.

Noting that "many Americans are pretty unimpressed with the banking industry right now," Brett Arends writes, "Maybe it's a good time to look at an alternative--like moving your account to a local credit union instead" (The Wall Street Journal Aug. 26).

That's just the first two paragraphs. Arends discusses credit unions' "sleepy, backwater image. They're often seen as the local libraries of banking. But that's too bad. The chances are they didn't pay their chief executive $10 million while writing off billions in subprime loans. And they can offer you some surprisingly good deals."

Bankrate.com economist Greg McBride says in the article that credit unions often beat banking counterparts in rates on loans and deposits and that shoppers looking around for the best deal "has to include looking at credit unions."

The lengthy article also uses statistics and historical information provided by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and urges readers to go to creditunion.coop to find credit unions near them.

courtesy of cuna.org