I’ve used the same bank since my first account was opened for me back in primary school (circa 1970). It’s been fine all that time.
I had dealings with a credit union for a few years when I was the treasurer of a society that held an account there. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the service.
I voted bank but we actually have accounts and investments in several banks.
I bank at Chase because I banked there when it was a local stand-alone state bank. Then it got swallowed by a big local bank. Then the big local big bank got swallowed by a big state group. Then the big state group got swallowed by Chase.
If they start throwing fees at me I’ll move to a Credit Union in a heartbeat.
One advantage at Chase…Christmas a couple of years ago I took the wrong credit card when visiting family. The card had a very low ceiling and was maxed out. It didn’t work when shopping for gifts.
I was 1000 miles away from home and broke. As we were driving back to relatives house we passed a Chase bank. I asked if we could stop and walked in.
Made a cash withdrawal from my checking account and the world got much better.
Both, plus cash at another institution. All under the Doctrine of Don’t Keep Your Eggs in One Basket.
If I had to go with only one, it would be the credit union.
Oh, I forgot to mention the best part about my credit union - I have an interest bearing checking account, with no minimum balance or annual fee, which is almost unheard of at a bank these days.
Not that I often have enough in checking to earn a whole lot of interest, but still.
And they refund all ATM fees at the end of every month, even third-party bank fees.
Credit Union only, since 1978.
Several different banks.
That is the nice thing about a big bank, being able to find a branch anywhere. But many CUs participate in a shared branch network of some sort that allows you to do anything you can do in your home branch in any other participating branch, except apply for loans. Just about any mid-sized town usually has at least one shared branch, so it comes in pretty handy.
Pretty much, yeah. FDIC is government backed and the NCUA money comes from the credit unions themselves. Either way you’re covered. 
The only thing people used to complain about the local CU was that they didn’t return your cancelled checks to you. Now the banks don’t either. At the CU, I get free checking with interest, no minimum balance, free ATM and debit card service, and free online banking.
The thing that really made me move to the CU from the bank at which my (psycho-ex) wife worked is the business hours. Here in South Georgia, banks are open 9 AM - 4 PM Monday through Thursday and to 6 PM on Friday, which makes it hard for me to get to the bank before it closed four days out of the week. The CU is open 9-5 M-F which is a bit better.
Well, it’s neck and neck at the moment.
I applied for and got a 0% credit card yesterday, so I plan to transfer my Bank of America MasterCard balance to that new card. Then I think I’ll finally make the switch to a Credit Union. Yeah!
Definitely do. Membership used to restricted to military personnel, but they’re expanding. I think anyone can join the bank and use most of their products and services. But some of their niftier services, like depositing checks by taking a picture with your smart phone, are limited. I can use the nifty online check deposits, as a former dependent of an active duty officer, but my wife can not.
Still, even if you don’t qualify for every product and service, you’ll still be able to open checking accounts or a credit card. Basically you can think of them as similar to online-only banks like ING Direct, but with more products and astonishingly better customer service.