Navy Federal vs. Regular bank

[Zacherof]

Those active and inactive military, my question for you guys is what is the real difference between Navy federal and a bank like Chase(which has been my bank for 3 years)?

What are the pros and cons of each that the other one doesn't offer?
And how did you like it?
And I plan to keep my chase account while possibly opening one with federal Navy.

[gyrene81]

navy federal is a credit union...and if you need to know the difference from there, google.

[Selino631]

I've had NFCU for a few years now. Havn't had any complaints.

[Zacherof]

navy federal is a credit union...and if you need to know the difference from there, google.

Upon postin this I did some re-learning and have familirized myself a bit with the topic.


Thanks for input you guys

[guncrasher]

I bank with both citibank and 2 credit unions.  all my banking is done online using a single credit union.  they have less fees and are a bit more forgiving.  just be aware that some credit unions wont call checking accounts, checking accounts, they call them share accounts or draft accounts.  and they dont require a minimum so if you make a mistake like I did when I first opened one you will end up with 35 overdrafts.  for 5 weeks ever single transaction I did was an overdraft as the lady had told me that money would be transferred automatically from my savings and I didnt have to keep any money there.

lucky for me when I explained it, they reversed all the over drafts.  which my credit union only charges 5 bucks instead of the 30+ from regular banks.

anyway I keep a regular bank account just in case I travel and need cash and I wont have to pay fees.  one thing about credit unions is if you lose you card they will charge you for a replacement also if you want to change your pin.  the larger credit unions dont but they have larger fees also.


semp

[Trell]

Im partial to credit unions.  They are normally more willing to work with you for anything,  over draft feels and the like.

Credit unions are normally not as technology advanced as banks/ They tend to use more 3rd parties for everything from bill pay, online banking and even  call centers. .  This will lead to issues where they do not know about or communicate outages or issues with these systems.    An example would be that bill pay will be down.  You call the credit union and they would have no clue.  That is because they farmed it to another company.  Not a bad thing  this also helps them keep their costs a little lower as they don’t have to keep the staff in-house or recreate the wheel.

At the end of the day credit unions are normally more responsive over all.  Getting a director on the phone to listen to your issues is not that tough if you need to do it. and most of them actually care about their members.   Try that with a bank.

[Zacherof]

I'm just trying to see what's what. As I know banks are there to make money while credit unions not so much.
My exsperiance with chase has no been a negative one as when I've needed to talk to someone they responded swiftly and we were able to take care ofnthe issue.

Upon enlisting I planned from the start to continue using chase.
Now I'm thinking about not only. That but. Maybe having another account for federal navy

[Maverick]

.I have not used the fed CU but I do use Chase and have used another CU in the past. In the experience I have had the CU never was able to compete on the basis of loan rates. They were consistently a percentage point or more higher. They also had some fees but since my use of them was minimal it wasn't an issue.

Chase has a very military friendly atmosphere. I had not been aware of the policy but on a visit to the bank to do some business the teller saw my ID card and asked why I wasn't on their military discount program. That moved my account to the "premium" checking, got me higher interest on savings as well as interest on checking all without any fees. Not that there is much check writing going on any more. I also got a reduction in fees for off bank ATM's. The bank by 'net for chase has been a very very positive experience for me. I do all my bill payments by 'net and Chase makes it a fast painless process. Since we "live on the road" as full time RVer's Chase has been very easy to deal with and keeps track of any suspicious card transactions. Their fraud alert has come in handy a couple of times.

[Zacherof]

After today's tutoring with my recruiter, I stopped off by. A chase bank and upgraded my account.
Thinking of not starting with a CU for the time being

[B4Buster]

I'm just trying to see what's what. As I know banks are there to make money while credit unions not so much.

Don't listen to the credit union zealots. They are a business and main focus is to make money. I know as I work for one (I have also worked for banks). While there are benefits to being a member of a credit union, at the end of the day their focus is to be in the black.

My best banking experiences have been with smaller community banks. I dated a girl who's father was the CEO of a relatively small (860 million) community bank. Him and the entire staff are good, genuine people who want to provide a positive banking environment for their customers.

[guncrasher]

credit unions are not there to make profits, they are a non-profit organization.  they dont have to answer to shareholders like big banks do.  that's why my credit union will charge 5 bucks for an over draft while citibank will charge you 30 or more.

at the credit union i dont have to pay for a checking account or a savings account. with citibank it's automatic deposit and an autopayment or it's 10 bucks.

I used to have 2 credit cards with chase, never late not once my interest rate was 9.9%.  but they messed up during the housing boom and they asked me to pay for it.  they wanted to increase my interest rate to 18% even though my credit was good.  I said no thank you, please close my credit cards and closed checking and savings as fees were gonna be higher too.  the credit union that I was also part of did not lose any money on that "housing bubble" and they didnt increase my interest rate or account fees.

like I said, I do all my banking with the credit union.  but I also keep an account with citibank  and make a stupid $5 payment on a credit card and a small payroll deport to avoid their 10 dollar fee.  and that is for convenience when we travel as they have atm's all over the country.  my credit union  only has 3 but I can go to most other credit unions and not pay a fee.  but I keep both just in case.

banks are giving more breaks to members of the military right now in the form of lower account fees. but if you make a mistake they will nail you for sure.


semp

[B4Buster]

credit unions are not there to make profits, they are a non-profit organization.  they dont have to answer to shareholders like big banks do.  that's why my credit union will charge 5 bucks for an over draft while citibank will charge you 30 or more.

at the credit union i dont have to pay for a checking account or a savings account. with citibank it's automatic deposit and an autopayment or it's 10 bucks.

I used to have 2 credit cards with chase, never late not once my interest rate was 9.9%.  but they messed up during the housing boom and they asked me to pay for it.  they wanted to increase my interest rate to 18% even though my credit was good.  I said no thank you, please close my credit cards and closed checking and savings as fees were gonna be higher too.  the credit union that I was also part of did not lose any money on that "housing bubble" and they didnt increase my interest rate or account fees.

like I said, I do all my banking with the credit union.  but I also keep an account with citibank  and make a stupid $5 payment on a credit card and a small payroll deport to avoid their 10 dollar fee.  and that is for convenience when we travel as they have atm's all over the country.  my credit union  only has 3 but I can go to most other credit unions and not pay a fee.  but I keep both just in case.

banks are giving more breaks to members of the military right now in the form of lower account fees. but if you make a mistake they will nail you for sure.


semp

semp: as I said, I work for a CU. It is a business designed to make money. If you aren't making money, how else can you provide competitive services, expand, or even keep your head above water without making a profit? You're drinking the Credit Union Kool-Aid.

Many CUs are charging usage fees, require minimum balances, etc just as the banks are doing. While every member is a share holder, most don't even know that. Credit Unions have annual meetings where CU members can nominate/elect new board members or vote on other items that may be on the agenda. We haven't had one single member at our annual meeting for 4 years. Most people don't differentiate a bank from a CU and could care less where their money is.

[Trell]

I think this is more of a grey area.  They are a Co-op,  A not for profit. 
That does not mean that they do not make any profit or that that are out to screw their customers.  They are owned by their customers and the customers have a say in the business. 
Any money that they make that is not reinvested goes back into the hands of its members.  Credit unions for the most part bend over backwards for their members.  A lot of them feel that they need to make everyone happy.   It is a trait that sometimes drives me nuts when dealing with them.

Now for the bad side of what I see with credit unions.   A lot of the people I have dealt with seem to have very little desire to maximize profits because they are a not in it for the profit.  They don’t run their depts.  as lean as a publicly traded company does.  A lot of the smaller ones are a lot like other small businesses.  The people running and managing them are learning as they go.  Experience wise I see a lot of people that grew up or had their first job in the CU.  The big ones have as much knowledge as Chase or any other big bank.  They also pool their resources together to great networks or other co-ops as a way to compete against larger banks.  Just like any company you do business with you have good ones and bad ones.  You have to pick the right ones
Now most Credit unions I deal with the people are far and above the nicest people in the world.
It was not until I had to deal with them that I realized how nice and friendly they are,   They just lack the urgency of people that work in other types of industries .

[mbailey]

My best banking experiences have been with smaller community banks. I dated a girl who's father was the CEO of a relatively small (860 million) community bank. Him and the entire staff are good, genuine people who want to provide a positive banking environment for their customers.

Agree 100%. All my banking is done a a bank with 9 total branch offices

I've known most of the tellers since my teenage years and graduated with the regional manager. Rates Are competitive with all the major lenders.  If there is ever an issue it's a phone call and straightened out right away.