The great state of Oregon is renowned for things like the cultural scene in Portland, its’ breathtaking forest scenery and some of the best financial institutions in the country. If you’re either referring to a bank or an Oregon credit union, the beaver state has some of the best. Although starting a little late in the credit union game, nowadays some of the best credit unions in Oregon number tens of thousands of members and have millions of dollars-worth of assets. But how can you know which credit union is the best? There are a lot of opinions on the matter and the best thing to do is to try and make up your mind on your own.
What Services Does an Oregon Credit Union Offer?
To begin with, credit unions are financial institutions that operate on a non-profit basis. That means that they are not designed to make money, as opposed to banks. This also means that they are not subjected to the same taxes as banks and can therefor offer services at lower rates and fees than banks. Being a non-profit organization, credit unions must only make as much as they need in order to keep operations going. That means that sometimes they don’t have the same operating hours as banks do, or the same number of locations. But there are some benefits to credit unions. Firstly, each member of an Oregon credit union has a vote when it comes to choosing the board of directors. Secondly, because they are not in it for the profit, credit unions can offer better interest for deposits and smaller installments on loans.
An Oregon credit union can offer almost the same services as a bank does, but with some differences. It can offer credit and debit cards, but depending on the union and the ATM network it works with, withdrawing money can be somewhat of a hassle. But the fees for withdraws are significantly lower than those of banks. Also, credit unions offer deposits much in the same way as banks do. That means that, although they don’t offer the same interest as a bank, they do guarantee the deposit in case of a financial crisis.
The main advantage of any credit union is that they are closer to the common man, their man goal being to help small communities and businesses. Loans can be taken out at much more convenient terms than those of banks. But don’t think for a second that that means that credit unions are in any way lesser than any bank out there. Some of them have several decades of tradition and have amassed billions in assets.
Which Are the Best Credit Unions in Oregon?
You cannot simply say which are the best credit unions in Oregon . There are a couple of ways of looking at this question. First of them is to consider when the credit union was founded. Granted, the first credit unions founded in Oregon aren’t around anymore, one could consider a credit union that has been around for more than half of century to be a well-established institution. Oregon has many credit unions operating around the state, with some of them having some real history behind them. In any case, in the financial world, long life means trust and stability. It also means that the people are used to working with it and have come to rely on it for support.
Another way to look at things is from a number of members perspective. The more members a credit union has, the better it technically is. With the development of the cities and the growth of the population due to industry expanding, more and more people have decided that a credit union is the way to go. From hundreds at the beginning, some credit unions have come to have tens of thousands of members, some of them even crossing state lines.
Yet another way of deciding which credit union is the best is the assets they have. Although they are non-profit organizations, the larger credit unions have amassed billions of dollar-worth of assets. The money is used to open new branch locations and to keep operations going smoothly.
There is no easy way of determining which are the best credit unions in Oregon. That depends on what the client wants and how his needs are met. You can check out various articles online for an even more in depth analysis of what credit unions are, but in the end it all boils down to personal experience.
