Credit Unions? Do They Have a Real Benefits

Credit unions are basically owned by the people that invest in them, unlike banks, who are in it to make money for the big guys. Normally credit unions have lower interest rates on the various loan packages, and most offer no cost checking, and even interest bearing checking accounts. Some banks have picked up on those benefits too, but it's usually standard practice with a credit union. You'd have to look at your particular credit union of course, but that seems to be the norm.

Actually this is a very good question. I am curious about the same thing. I know that I am part of a couple of them and they used to have higher interest rates than other banks, but now that curve is starting to get smaller and smaller. At this point I honestly can not even tell the difference between credit unions and normal banks. A benefit that credit unions used to have was that they were generally the ones that offered free checking accounts and all. Now most banks do this. My understanding is that in terms of what the difference between a credit union and a regular bank are is just that credit unions are non-profit. I could be wrong though.