I've been accused in the past of being anti-bank. Guilty. As I opined in the Indianapolis Business Journal last year, banks have ceased being our financial partners. Banks were originally created in order to help people manage their money. But this quickly decomposed into helping separate people from their money. Yes, I know. I told you I was jaded on this topic.
Banks are confused these days. They don't know who they serve. Is it the depositor? Is it the shareholder? Is the employees? Their actions speak louder than any answers that they may provide to these questions. Something that could help clear up the confusion to this quandary is the removal of profit. Yes, on the surface this seems downright UnAmerican. But I assure you that it's not.
A credit union is a cooperative entity that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit to its members at competitive rates, and providing other financial services. It is a NOT-FOR-PROFIT institution.
Yes, there are still fees. Yes, you may occasionally find a reason to get mad at them. But, in my opinion, there is little doubt that a credit union is there to serve its members, and its members alone. I'm absolutely convinced that if people truly understood credit unions, then they would immediately start using them.
Call me crazy, but I don't want my money leveraged for the purpose of wild profiteering. I'm not worried about a bank losing my money. I just have ethical concerns that prevent me from enabling their financial masochism.
Agree? Disagree?
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