# What's the difference between a credit union and a bank? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-credit-union-and-a-bank/649599 "2013-02-07T16:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-credit-union-and-a-bank/649599/21 "2013-02-07T22:02:23Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Actually, … > > [Credit union - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union) I think we’re both saying the same thing, with some differences in terminology. > [@your Wikipedia link](#): > > Credit unions differ from banks and other financial institutions in that the members who have accounts in the credit union are the owners of the credit union and they elect their board of directors in a democratic one-person-one-vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the credit union. This is pretty much what I was saying. The members of a co-op _are_ its customers. I’m not sure whether you’re differentiating banks from co-ops based on their ownership structure; to me a bank is anyone who provides banking services, and the Big Banks we all love and hate, the for-profit banking corporations, are just a subset (albeit a very large and shiny subset) of all banks. -Sunspace (grew up in co-op housing…) ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-credit-union-and-a-bank/649599/22 "2013-02-07T23:31:19Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The NCUA (as opposed to the FDIC) insures individual accounts up to $250,000. Or at least it will until the end of this year, as part of the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. If that doesn’t get renewed, it will likely go back to $100,000 for regular accounts and $250K for retirement accounts. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Credit_Union_Share_Insurance_Fund). It will not go back at the end of the year, unless the law is changed by Congress between now and then. The $250,000 limit for both types of accounts was made permanent in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Act. [Cite (pdf, see Section 335(b)](http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr4173enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr4173enr.pdf)). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-credit-union-and-a-bank/649599/23 "2013-02-08T00:16:22Z")
My credit union has safety deposit boxes for rent. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-credit-union-and-a-bank/649599/24 "2013-02-08T16:19:35Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > My credit union has safety deposit boxes for rent. As does at least one near me (the one the kids’ have accounts at, actually; students in our school district were eligible for this one). A friend told me that she knew that CUs weren’t legally allowed to have boxes; that’s not something I’d heard of anywhere else. If we didn’t already have most of our stuff at CU#1, I’d consider moving everything to CU#2 just for the boxes. CU#3 (the one I mentioned having in my office building) is just to get a foot in the door because it happens to have locations all over the country and I figured that might be useful if we or the kids wound up moving elsewhere at some point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-a-credit-union-and-a-bank/649599.md?page=1)