Credit Unions Fill In The Void As Banks Tighten Rules

If consumers get upset with their banks as rules tighten, will credit unions benefit? Credit unions are arguing that they will—and already are.

“Over the past few years, the credit union memberships have been on the rise. Credit Union National Association (CUNA) chief economist Mike Schenksays that’s partly due to banks increasing the fees they were charging for their debit cards,” according to a story in The Guardian. “In the last year, the credit union membership grew by 2.9 percent, adding 2.85 million new members. It was the largest increase in more than 25 years.”

The story argues that many bank fees punish the poor. “Fees punish those who don’t have extra money to spare. In fact, there are fees for not having enough money. Don’t have enough money to maintain minimum required balance in your account? There’s a fee for that. Wrote out checks for more money than you currently have in your account? There’s a fee for that,” the story said. “A new study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that often, the purchases or payments that trigger overdraft fees are actually less than the overdraft fee.”