Credit Unions Offering More Services

Credit unions, which as a group weathered the financial crisis better than banks, have been expanding their range of products and offerings recently. Today, credit unions offer much more than just ordinary deposit accounts and loans. A growing number are rolling out student and small business loans, mobile banking and even reward programs. This trend is happening even as banks are curtailing perks like debit rewards, and tightening standards for lending.

Dan Egan, president of the Massachusetts Credit Union League, tells WalletPop that credit unions are more on the cutting edge in terms of services than most people realize. For instance, the service that's now been popularized by some big banks in which you take a photo of a check to electronically deposit it was started by a credit union a full year and a half ago, Egan says. They did it to make it more convenient for customers who didn't live close enough to a credit union branch to physically deposit a check.