By Mary Auestad Arnold
Hats off to Co-op Financial Services for the attention it's bringing to credit unions through its USA Today ad campaign, "Why Pay Banks $3?" a direct referral to Bank of America's recent surcharge increase.
In a press release related to the ads, Co-op CEO Stan Hollen points out that "credit union members have access to a surcharge-free ATM network that is larger than any bank offers, and it's time everybody becomes aware of this fact."
At least one blogger was already aware of Co-op's virtues. In "The Co-op Network: Another Reason to Join Credit Unions," on the Get Rich Slowly blog, he wrote (in bold), "most credit union members now have access to more no-cost ATMs than any several large banks put together." He goes on to explain how, with access to this vast network, you may not even need to switch financial institutions when you move (his CU is in Minnesota; he lives in Michigan).
He ends with this important observation: "For some reason, credit unions do not highlight the Co-Op Network as much as they should, which may contribute to the continuing popular notion that credit unions do not have enough ATMs."
Why is that???
Mary Arnold is VP/publications for CUES and editor of Credit Union Management magazine.
