Credit Union/Small Banking Help

[JournalistKev87]

I've been mulling over switching to a credit union for a while because I'm getting nervous of all the fees Chase will start hurling at me. The thing is I want to pick the right Credit Union (or small bank) for me. I've recently started a seasonal job in retail (minimum wage) that I hope lasts past the season. I'm out in the Orland area of Illinois (SW suburbs of the city) if that helps. I've looked at the search options at moveyourmoney.org but many of these banks and CU don't have websites to look for more info.

I know that the DU community has many helpful people out there and I'd greatly appreciate it.

[DCKit]

1. Good luck, and know that they'll even miss your minimum wages.

Banking for most of us results in what any sane economist would call "regressive taxes".

[safeinOhio]

2. Here is where I started

http://www.bankrate.com/rates/safe-sound/bank-ratings-search.aspx

Banks and credit unions are rated on their balance sheet. I found a 5 star CU, went in and talked to them. Seems they started out as a teachers CU and then expanded to the whole county. Almost all of the Board are retired teachers.

[Firebrand Gary]

3. I went with Navy Federal CU

I was not sure how it was going to work at first either as the closet branch is 250 miles away from me. However I handle most of my banking by mail or thru Safe Credit Union which allows me to do transactions with them. Also I receive no ATM fee's so long as I use CU ATM's.

I love it. I have been with NFCU for a year now and have had ZERO issues. I wish I would have done it when I was 18.

Good Luck, you will be happy and will not look back!

[bananas]

4. Try these

I put 60462 in for the zip code,
both of these listed several within 5 miles with webpages:

This one was recommended by an article at good.is: http://www.findacreditunion.com
Here's the article: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2165683

This one is run by the government agency which insures credit unions,
note that not all credit unions are federally insured: http://www.ncua.gov/NCUAMapping/Pages/NCUAGOVMapping.aspx

The website you gave didn't work at all for me.

[customerserviceguy]

5. One piece of advice

While it might seem fun to flip a major bank the middle digit on your way out the door, you probably want to maintain parallel accounts for awhile. I've found that the credit unions where I now live are not like the well-run institutions I knew back in the Pacific Northwest. I've had to leave both of them, they just weren't up to snuff.

A local community bank that has it's stuff together is just as good a choice as a credit union for many of us. But you won't know who's competent and who's not until you've been with an institution for awhile.

[SoCalDem]

6. Just make a few visits to some smaller banks near where you live

stop in and tell them you are thinking about changing banks & ask what they have to offer. If they are FDIC insured and you just put money in so you can use it for daily life & paying bills, you can probably do just fine with a small local bank.

Ask some friends too..

[JournalistKev87]

7. There are a couple of local banks that I found but the Credit Unions are a bit more challenging

because there's a lot I'm unfamiliar about with them. Just trying to find a good place for my money that has a good interest rate and who's main goal isn't to take all my money the moment I get it.