Small banks, credit unions and online banks want your business. But how do you find a good banking facility to do business with?
Locate a credit union by going to www.creditunion.coop. You can join many credit unions that you wouldn’t necessarily think you could join. You can join the Pentagon Federal Credit Union by joining the National Military Family Association for a one-time $20 membership fee. Credit unions often offers lower rates for things like auto loans.
You can find small community banks at www.icba.org and click on bank locator or just look around your community for them. Building a relationship with a small local bank also helps out your community.
You can find online banks through www.bankrate.com. You can check if the bank is FDIC insured by putting the bank’s name into www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main_bankfind.asp. I have accounts at several online banks. They can pay higher rates on savings account and it only takes a couple days to transfer money which isn’t a problem. Not having immediate access to the money can be a plus as you can’t spend it as easily.
