| Credit Unions |
Banks |
| Are not-for-profit
institutions |
Are profit-oriented
institutions |
| Can serve only those
individuals within their field of membership |
Can serve anyone in the
general public with no restrictions regarding employement or residence. |
| Have members, each person who
deposits money has a share of ownership |
Have customers with no
ownership in the financial organization |
| Members elect a volunteer
Board of Directors to represent their interests |
Have a paid Board of Directors
who represent the owners; customers do not have voting privileges |
| Democratically controlled by
members |
Controlled by stockholders and
paid officials |
| Are member service-driven |
Are profit-driven |
| Return profits to members in
the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates and free or low cost services. |
Return profits to a small
group of stockholders |
| Are federally insured by the
National Credit Union Administration |
Are federally insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation |
| http://www.NCUA.gov |
http://www.FDIC.gov/ |
