Money Smarts Blog

If you’re in the market for a financial institution, it pays to learn more about the credit union difference.

You might think it’s hard to join a credit union, like it’s an exclusive club with a lot of weird requirements. The truth is credit unions are for everyone! Credit unions, like IHMVCU, serve a common field of membership based on things like geographical area, employer or membership in an organization. No matter who you are there’s a credit union for you, and joining is easy!

Credit Unions even offer all the same services as banks—a worldwide ATM network, online banking, mobile deposit, loans, mortgages and checking accounts. Banks and credit unions might look pretty similar on the surface, but many credit union members claim to feel a stronger sense of loyalty and familiarity with credit unions. But why? What’s the credit union difference?

Credit unions are member-owned financial cooperatives.

That means every member is an owner. What does that mean for you? Credit Unions work for your best interest—not stockholder profits. You can’t buy stock in credit unions and we don’t issue payouts to stockholders. Credit union earnings are returned to members in the form of lower loan rates, higher deposit yields and lower fees.

Credit unions care about your financial well-being.

We want our members to live their best financial lives and feel informed and empowered in their financial decisions.

Credit unions are people helping people.

Credit unions exist to help people achieve financial success, not to make shareholders wealthy. At IHMVCU, we make our members feel like they’re worth more by giving back to the communities we serve. Last year our employees raised nearly $15,000 for Family Resources, Race for the Cure, Toys for Tots, City of Moline Police Department, Angel Tree and QC Paws through casual days, bake sales, raffles and personal contributions.

We’re committed to serving area youth with our support of Big Brother Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club and our Cash for Class scholarship program. We offer $26,000 in scholarships, paving the way for educational opportunities that won’t leave students with a mountain of debt.

People helping people isn’t just a motto to credit unions, it’s a way of life.