Business Week: CUs have become the FI of choice

NEW YORK (9/22/08)--An article in Business Week notes that credit unions are now the "financial institution of choice" for more people and small businesses.

The article by Karen E. Klein in the "Smart Answers" section discusses how small business owners deal with today's financial market crisis. It offers guidance for business owners on banks, credit unions, business loans, labor, pricing, insurance and equity investments (BusinessWeek.com Sept. 19).

"In the past decade, credit unions have become the financial institution of choice for increasing numbers of individuals and small businesses. They're also making more small business loans than ever before," says the article.

It features California and Nevada Credit Union League President/CEO Bill Cheney responding to a statement by an expert concerned over losses in the housing market in California and Florida.

Cheney noted that "a couple" of credit unions in California had some difficulty due to the housing crisis, "but those have been addressed, and they've merged with healthy financial institutions.

"Overall, the great majority [of credit unions] are well-capitalized, in excess of government guidelines on capitalization, and most are doing well considering today's financial situation."

Cheney emphasized that credit unions continue to make loans to members who are creditworthy and said they are getting "a lot of calls and interest from our members. They're asking about the availability of their credit lines and about deposit insurance."

Cheney encouraged members to call, adding, "they'll likely find that local institutions are doing much better than the larger ones." He pointed out that deposits in credit unions have federal insurance, like bank deposits.

courtesy of cuna.org