[seretogis]

We don't need to rely on profit-driven banks while credit unions exist. I'd really recommend that anyone and everyone switch to their local credit union to deprive these awful banks of their money.

It is slightly less convenient, but much better for the country.

[x0x0]

I did this during the banking crisis, but I can't recommend it. The problem is most credit unions suck.

Examples:

* it's 2020 and my credit union doesn't have autopay for my credit card.

* someone stole my cards and made some unauthorized charges at an unattended parking lot -- they did it almost 40 times in a single day across 3 cards that I rotated between. Chase and Amex took a 5 minute phone call each. My credit union took more than ten hours of work to get my money back, including demanding that I go to a -- remember, unattended -- parking lot that was near a job I hadn't worked at in 6 months to try to get a refund.

The real answer is if you qualify for eg a chase sapphire reserve, you get excellent service and an excellent product.

[jacurtis]

You are 100% correct that most credit unions have terrible credit cards. Unfortunately most of them also have terrible online banking. They also have terrible fraud detection.

The balance that I have found works good for me is that I keep liquid assets at credit unions and I will get a debit card from them, but try to avoid using it if at all possible. I also hold credit cards with the major banks (except Wells Fargo, which I refuse to bank with in any capacity). I make all purchases throughout the month on credit cards with the exception of things like mortgage, car payment, etc.. Obviously also paying those cards off each month. There are numerous advantages to using credit cards over debit cards that I won't get into here.

I have a variety of credit cards that use Chase, BofA, AMEX, and Capital One. I also have at least one of each of the three major card brands (Visa, Mastercard, Amex).

Then of course I have a couple investment accounts I use for holding long term assets.

I find that this balance is the best that you can come up with. My liquid assets (money I make from work for example) goes into my primary credit union account. I try to hold mortgage and car loans through the same credit union and those get paid directly from the checking account. I try to avoid any other line items on that account other than payments to pay off credit cards. Then day-to-day expenses (food, amazon, stuff from Target, etc) get paid with credit cards. This way no one has direct access to my liquid assets if a card number gets compromised. I also don't have to deal with the bad online banking experience of the credit unions because I don't really use them for much other than a selected number of major payments each month. Instead my general purchases are on well known credit cards that have really good apps (Like Chase for example) and online experiences and reward programs.

This balance is great. You build a good relationship with a credit union and you keep your primary liquid assets with them instead of the major banks. Credit Unions are particularly good when you want things like Mortgages, construction loans, lines of credit, or car loans. So you can use credit unions for these things and maintain a good relationship with them. But where the credit union is weak, you leverage the strength of the major banks for good credit cards, good rewards programs, good fraud detection, good apps, and so forth. But at the end of the day they don't actually hold any of your money.

[pjlegato]

This. I've tried credit unions and big banks. I really wanted to like the credit unions, but their general level of operational competence is a small fraction of the big banks.

Everything takes much longer and major hassles are far more frequent. They have automated little to none of their operations. They are so small that their tiny staff has never had to deal with your particular issue before, and doesn't know what to do about it.

The big banks, on the other hand, deal with other versions of your problem dozens to hundreds of times a day, and have evolved a very high degree of efficiency in handling your case.

[quintushoratius]

Not OP, but -

It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition.

* I keep my savings, checking, and loan accounts at a local bank, which also issues a debit card.

* I have credit cards from Discover and BoA, so that I get big-bank services for them.

The bulk of my value as a customer is tied to my mortgage, so my local bank, and possibly Fannie Mae, holds onto those profits.

[Supermancho]

I've used credit unions since my first "BofA experience" in my 20s. School's First FCU, BECU, etc. They have all been great and I highly recommend them. I charge something to a card outside of the state but have recently bought a plane ticket to that area, it's fine. If I don't buy a ticket and my card is charged in some out of state area or 2 charges are made within a few hours across 100 miles in distance, instant lock on my card and a phone call.

This stuff is just wonderful. No monthly fees. Can use a debit anywhere Mastercard is valid, even overseas.

> The problem is most credit unions suck.

This has not been my experience. Chase is miserable, but if you need a business account, credit unions can't help you there.

[ptero]

I second this. In my limited experience (2 at universities) they are frequently run by very well meaning and very incompetent folks. Like really incompetent, from storing cleartext passwords to messing up simple payments. My 2c.