Hiya guys, I've had it up to here with Bank of America. I was out of work for a month, and with no income, I wound up overdrawing because of a monthly mainainence fee debit taken out by the bank itself-- $15. It's absolutely nuts that I pay that without batting an eyelash, but that's not my main complaint. After informing the bank that I had no income for at least the next 2 weeks, they still levied an overdraft fee against me, and then another. I was in the red for 10 days before I finally got paid, but by then I had been charged $70 in fees. Anyway, I have a credit card with BofA that I have to pay off, so I was going to see if I could get a loan from the credit union to help consolidate some of that debt-- though I doubt that I have good enough credit to do so. Either way, when I'm there I'm going to consider opening an account. I mean, it's free checking and their savings (ha!) actually do have a yield that starts wit a whole number. What do you guys think that I should do? Any other suggestions?
Joining a credit union right now won't help you get the money you need to pay your debt. Some credit unions require some kind of eligibility. Maybe you should be working in a certain industry and so on. The rules differ from credit union to credit union. Once you join the credit union you need to deposit your cash with them for a certain period of time before you're qualify to get a loan. So since all that will take quite some time, try seeking other ways of raising money to pay the debt. An odd job perhaps or these other methods: Log In
I would at least look into it. A lot of people swear by Bank of America, but I had an account with them once and wasn't impressed. A credit union or a smaller bank might be a good choice.
I'd say sure, open up an account with a credit union, but use it as a secondary account to put some money into. In otherwords, use it as a savings account. You won't get much from it, and it'll be slow, but depending on who you go with, you get a little more interest than regular banks, and most importantly, at least for me, you can't access the money in the union easily, so it prevents you from spending it unwisely.
I was thinking of opening an checking account with a credit union as well but was turned off a bit by the fact that you can't access your money very easily with no ATMS except shady ones at gas stations ect... not interested in that but in the future I may look into it.
Credit Unions are generally free of fees. Most are online. They have their own federal insurance that's similar to the FDIC. They make it easier to obtain a car loan.
With a credit union you are basically a shareholder or part owner of the company itself. Which is different from the big banks where you're paying guys like Warren Buffet. Credit unions are great on the conscience as they are more likely to try to work with you as there's an invested interest in both parties. Whereas with the big bank you need to have a large number of zeros in your account before they care about your business. For most part, I would highly recommend a credit union as you will likely save on fees, more incline to get lower interest rates, and like I said it's great for the conscience.
I think it's wise to open an account with a credit union. Free or low cost checking and savings accounts. Some credit unions even pay dividends directly into your account. Credit unions are customer friendly and more loan friendly. But I doubt that you will be able to get a loan without any income.
