11 ms·

People like this should be using credit unions, not banks. Credit Unions where created to service customers that would not profitable for a normal bank, many

by syshum 5y ago

People like this should be using credit unions, not banks. Credit Unions where created to service customers that would not profitable for a normal bank, many decades ago I was one of those customers... Still today, even though my financial situation is far better, refuse to put any of my money in bank after the treatment I received from them. I have been with my current credit union for 20+ years, I love them, every loan I have gotten from auto to mortgage in the last 15 years is also run through a credit union... Credit Unions is where it is at, people need to be educated to use them

pm90 5y ago
Credit Unions don't take out splashy ads all over the place though (maybe they should). I agree with your point. Credit Unions are pretty safe and tend to be rooted in the community in which they operate in.
techsupporter 5y ago
Sure, but consider the marketing. Opening an account at a credit union requires: - Knowing the credit union exists and which ones someone can join (not all of them are "anyone in [region]") - Going to the credit union during business hours (no mean feat; several of the credit unions around me have shorter hours on Friday and three hours on Saturday) - Qualifying for an account, and not just membership. Lots of credit unions pull Chexsystems--credit reports for checking accounts--and a report from the traditional Big Three and having poor credit will be a bar to an account (something that the ProPublica article points out as a reason people use Chime). Those steps even presuppose that you find a credit union that, itself, isn't abusive. I was a member of one that was outright terrible and had miserable fees, but I had to stick with them for a year longer than needed because of a bankruptcy. There's nothing endemic to a credit union that requires it to be a "nice" entity, just that their structure makes it more probable. And it all comes down to how many of us on this site are financially savvy or at least have a better understanding of the pros/cons of how banks and credit unions and "fintech apps" work. The people being targeted by the marketing for Chime are less likely to have that same set of information, and are winding up abused as a result.
- kstrauser 5y ago
  Our CU lets you apply online. I've been to their physical location once in my life, and that's when a scammer stole my debit card number. I could either wait for the replacement to show up in the mail, or swing by their office to pick one up over lunch.
kstrauser 5y ago
I agree. I got started with a CU because their service is so much better than any bank I've dealt with. There are nearly no service charges for normal things. I have access to a cooperative no-charge ATM network with about 30,000 locations. I can get in-person service from credit unions I don't even belong to thanks to a large partnership network. A few years ago, we needed to buy another car. I filled out the loan application on my CU's website. Someone from the CU called me an hour later to tell me the APR and maximum loan amount, and to recommend a list of local dealerships that other members had good experiences with. The car salesperson did the usual "let me see if we can get you a better financing deal!" sort of thing, and when we showed him our loan paperwork, he stopped: "I've never seen an interest rate that low. I can't beat it. That's amazing." I love my credit union and I can't imagine a plausible scenario where I'd ever go back to using a bank.
protomyth 5y ago
Credit Unions (at least around here) have started being just as bad as banks to get any services from. I know a few people who got jobs and then "weren't a good fit" for the local credit union. They went the Walmart route.
mindslight 5y ago
While there seems to be a correlation where credit unions have better service, it's not a hard rule. Small local banks can also be friendly and responsive. The key is to avoid large companies where your call will be "placed in a bucket of stomach fluid", and even worse, when you visit the branch the person trying to help you will be at the mercy of the same exact customer service line. I'm glad you found a smaller business to trust.

by syshum 5y ago

pm90 5y ago

Credit Unions don't take out splashy ads all over the place though (maybe they should). I agree with your point. Credit Unions are pretty safe and tend to be rooted in the community in which they operate in.

techsupporter 5y ago

Sure, but consider the marketing. Opening an account at a credit union requires: - Knowing the credit union exists and which ones someone can join (not all of them are "anyone in [region]") - Going to the credit union during business hours (no mean feat; several of the credit unions around me have shorter hours on Friday and three hours on Saturday) - Qualifying for an account, and not just membership. Lots of credit unions pull Chexsystems--credit reports for checking accounts--and a report from the traditional Big Three and having poor credit will be a bar to an account (something that the ProPublica article points out as a reason people use Chime). Those steps even presuppose that you find a credit union that, itself, isn't abusive. I was a member of one that was outright terrible and had miserable fees, but I had to stick with them for a year longer than needed because of a bankruptcy. There's nothing endemic to a credit union that requires it to be a "nice" entity, just that their structure makes it more probable. And it all comes down to how many of us on this site are financially savvy or at least have a better understanding of the pros/cons of how banks and credit unions and "fintech apps" work. The people being targeted by the marketing for Chime are less likely to have that same set of information, and are winding up abused as a result.

kstrauser 5y ago
Our CU lets you apply online. I've been to their physical location once in my life, and that's when a scammer stole my debit card number. I could either wait for the replacement to show up in the mail, or swing by their office to pick one up over lunch.

kstrauser 5y ago

I agree. I got started with a CU because their service is so much better than any bank I've dealt with. There are nearly no service charges for normal things. I have access to a cooperative no-charge ATM network with about 30,000 locations. I can get in-person service from credit unions I don't even belong to thanks to a large partnership network. A few years ago, we needed to buy another car. I filled out the loan application on my CU's website. Someone from the CU called me an hour later to tell me the APR and maximum loan amount, and to recommend a list of local dealerships that other members had good experiences with. The car salesperson did the usual "let me see if we can get you a better financing deal!" sort of thing, and when we showed him our loan paperwork, he stopped: "I've never seen an interest rate that low. I can't beat it. That's amazing." I love my credit union and I can't imagine a plausible scenario where I'd ever go back to using a bank.

protomyth 5y ago

Credit Unions (at least around here) have started being just as bad as banks to get any services from. I know a few people who got jobs and then "weren't a good fit" for the local credit union. They went the Walmart route.

mindslight 5y ago

While there seems to be a correlation where credit unions have better service, it's not a hard rule. Small local banks can also be friendly and responsive. The key is to avoid large companies where your call will be "placed in a bucket of stomach fluid", and even worse, when you visit the branch the person trying to help you will be at the mercy of the same exact customer service line. I'm glad you found a smaller business to trust.