Are credit unions good for a small business?
Using a credit union for your small business can be a big decision with far-reaching effects. There are lots of factors to consider with this decision, but the first thing you need to ensure is you understand exactly what a credit union is.
The entire concept of a credit union is to serve a community and give them the best service possible to aid and grow that community. This means a lot of differences from other financial institutions, but the most significant one of these is that credit unions are non-profit. This means, unlike traditional banks, credit unions are not concerned with making the most money possible or increasing revenue streams. It will instead mean ensuring the services provided are the best serving and most valuable ones possible.
This will mean that if you work with a credit union, you will be getting very high interest rates, because they are going to offer you terms that will earn you the most money and benefit you the most, as they are not concerned with making money from you. As well as the interest rates being high, the other significant financial benefit is the loan rates being low, so you will not feel under the same level of pressure to pay your loan down as quickly as possible.
Credit unions contrast most with banks and other finance companies with their size. Being smaller and more community-driven means that credit unions will be able to give more focus to their customers, as well as understand and care for them on a more personalized level. Being so local will mean that a small business that wishes to expand, particularly to new locations, does need to consider if the credit union will be able to handle this as well since they are generally intended for local customers.
Credit unions give you a more personalized and valuable experience, though it works best if you remain local to its area.