3 ms·

Is there added risk for a credit union to be in a specific niche? Say, for tech workers.

ldayley 8y ago
Perhaps, but serving a specific niche is exactly the origin and general mission of credit unions in the US. Most CUs now try to have as broad a membership as possible but this is a recent trend.
karambahh 8y ago
I'd guess that being in a niche brings you a better understanding of the environment but the downside is that if that niche tanks, you're toast. Credit unions (or their closest form) in Europe, (co-op banks and various incarnations such as Sparkasses or Caisses d'Epargne) are now spreading their risks, and to alleviate the geographical niche issue merged together (several dozens Caisses d'Epargne in France 15 years ago, about ten now for instance). Other forms of pseudo co-op banks such as Credit Agricole (which started as a network of farmers credit unions) or Caja Rural are now banking behemoths doing everything from retail banking to investment, HFT: Credit Agricole is now probably in the top 10 largest banks worldwide.
- karambahh 8y ago
  Credit Agricole recently entered the top 10, as per their own PR: http://credit-agricole.ro/en/2018/05/23/credit-agricole-enters-the-top-10-largest-banks-worldwide-by-assets/ http://credit-agricole.ro/en/2018/05/23/credit-agricole-ente...
- cbnotfromthere 8y ago
  This is incredibly sad. I've used CA in France and it was a very miserable experience, even by French banking standards (which on themselves are surprisingly low). I'm using them in Egypt and it's a shitty experience too. Better than French CA, better than most government-owned banks in Egypt, but still shitty.
  - karambahh 8y ago
    I've heard many horror stories about CA personal banking in France (bank transfer taking ages, random charges appearing/disappearing etc). Their offer towards startups "Le Village By CA" seems, however, interesting.
quirkot 8y ago
When I mentioned a laser focused niche, I meant that by being niche focused (like Venmo or Paypal) you can avoid a lot of the overhead needed for having a wider selection of banking services. The common example here is no physical locations, no tellers, less overhead. But it also applies that if you don't do mortgage lending you don't need mortgage specialists and you have less interest rate risk to manage [edit] re: ldayley comment, I'm referring to vertical niches of service rather than horizontal market niches

Perhaps, but serving a specific niche is exactly the origin and general mission of credit unions in the US. Most CUs now try to have as broad a membership as possible but this is a recent trend.

karambahh 8y ago

I'd guess that being in a niche brings you a better understanding of the environment but the downside is that if that niche tanks, you're toast. Credit unions (or their closest form) in Europe, (co-op banks and various incarnations such as Sparkasses or Caisses d'Epargne) are now spreading their risks, and to alleviate the geographical niche issue merged together (several dozens Caisses d'Epargne in France 15 years ago, about ten now for instance). Other forms of pseudo co-op banks such as Credit Agricole (which started as a network of farmers credit unions) or Caja Rural are now banking behemoths doing everything from retail banking to investment, HFT: Credit Agricole is now probably in the top 10 largest banks worldwide.

karambahh 8y ago
Credit Agricole recently entered the top 10, as per their own PR: http://credit-agricole.ro/en/2018/05/23/credit-agricole-enters-the-top-10-largest-banks-worldwide-by-assets/ http://credit-agricole.ro/en/2018/05/23/credit-agricole-ente...
cbnotfromthere 8y ago
This is incredibly sad. I've used CA in France and it was a very miserable experience, even by French banking standards (which on themselves are surprisingly low). I'm using them in Egypt and it's a shitty experience too. Better than French CA, better than most government-owned banks in Egypt, but still shitty.
- karambahh 8y ago
  I've heard many horror stories about CA personal banking in France (bank transfer taking ages, random charges appearing/disappearing etc). Their offer towards startups "Le Village By CA" seems, however, interesting.

quirkot 8y ago

When I mentioned a laser focused niche, I meant that by being niche focused (like Venmo or Paypal) you can avoid a lot of the overhead needed for having a wider selection of banking services. The common example here is no physical locations, no tellers, less overhead. But it also applies that if you don't do mortgage lending you don't need mortgage specialists and you have less interest rate risk to manage [edit] re: ldayley comment, I'm referring to vertical niches of service rather than horizontal market niches