Banks Are On A Mission To Bust (Credit) Unions Letter Of The Week From Feb. 12

The excellent column by Fred Davis regarding banks (“Bank legislation is anything but consumer-friendly,” Jan. 28) as well as the Jan. 29 “Your turn” opinion by George Goss (“Credit cards hurt businesses”) were most informative. They just didn’t go far enough.

Banks are attacking credit unions, filing more than a dozen anti-consumer lawsuits nationwide, teaming up with savings and loans to force Americans out of their credit unions. If they have their way, more than 10 million Americans would be forced to give up their credit union membership, look for higher-priced loans and pay more fees as well as earn less on their deposits.

Credit unions charge fewer and lower fees than banks do for the same services because credit unions price services to cover costs. Banks charge fees to cover costs plus extra to make a profit.

Banks would like you to believe that credit unions are the next S&L-type crisis. Wrong! Credit unions are healthier than ever.

Bankers even have taken out ads, “Are your credit union deposits insured by the FDIC? No way.” That is true. Credit union deposits are covered from the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. It’s a selfsustaining fund that is so strong that it has paid dividends back to its depositors twice.

Has your bank paid any dividends to you on your deposits?

Bankers’ idea of fair competition is to gain a competitive edge by getting judges to rule limits on credit unions (a small fraction of the financial system) while banks are attempting to broaden their business ventures to include areas considered off-limits in the past.

Let consumers, not bankers, choose where we can go for financial services. Patricia Wilson Mead

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