Press Release with Dan Mica, CUNA President and CEO Watch the video
Channel 7 News Interview with Doug Ferraro, CEO of Bellco Credit Union Watch the video
KOA Colorado Morning News Interview with C. Alan Peppers, President and CEO of Westerra Credit Union Listen to the radio spot
6/11/09, by Credit Union Association of Colorado -- Credit unions in Colorado are hosting a food drive to benefit local food banks. Please drop off any canned goods, non-perishable food items, or monetary donations at any one of these participating credit unions:
4/29/09, by Gerri Willis -- The release of the government's stress test results will reveal which banks are weak. If one is yours, what should you do with your money?
Next week the government is expected to reveal the results of its all-important bank stress-tests. Investors and customers alike will be scrutinizing these numbers to make sure their bank has the wherewithal to survive in this tough economic environment.
1/6/09, by Karen Datko -- Credit unions exist to help their members. Commercial banks exist to enrich their shareholders.
You read that right. That's why credit unions often have better interest rates on both loans and deposits. Commercial banks are businesses. Their sole purpose is to figure out how to make more money from customers (you). Interest rates on accounts are often very low (or nonexistent), and they always try to sell you new products.
12/28/2008, by Aldo Svaldi -- As other lenders backed away, credit unions stepped up to fill the gap.
New-auto sales have fallen hard this year, dropping an unprecedented 37 percent in the 12 months through November.
If credit unions hadn't stepped into the financing gap left after other lenders backed away, the decline probably would have been much worse in Colorado, auto dealers say.
"Credit unions are holding up the Colorado auto market," said Tom Wilber, finance director at O'Meara Ford in Northglenn.
12/9/2008, by Tyler Lopez -- Old Idea Gains New Popularity With Market Crash
Denver -- With constant references to the "credit crunch" Americans may have found their own way out: credit unions.
Several local groups report upticks in deposits and loans granted.
"I think that credit unions are in pretty good shape on that. And they're still able to provide some credit whereas, maybe some of the banks cannot," said Timothy Kratz, member of Credit Union of Colorado.
10/21/2008, by Kimberly Palmer -- Many consumers may be surprised to discover that they're eligible to join.
With banks tightening lending standards and interest rates headed north, where do you turn? For 90 million Americans, the answer is credit unions.
Credit unions, which, unlike banks, are owned and governed by their members, are often misunderstood as exclusive places with limited services. But in reality, most Americans are eligible to join them and they provide an increasingly diverse array of services, including free ATM use, electronic banking, loans, and interest-bearing savings accounts.
11/14/08, by Rebecca Tonn -- One in three Coloradoans has done it -- joined a credit union, that is.
In the Pikes Peak region, 300,000 people are members.
And, despite national news of a credit freeze -- credit unions are seeming to defy the trend.
"We still have money to lend," said James Moore, senior vice president of Ent Federal Credit Union. "We have an 82 to 83 percent loan-to-deposit ratio and more than 11 percent cash reserves -- adequate for any challenge that might come down the road.
10/23/2008, by Barbara Kiviat — Business is booming for Ed Speed, which is a little odd, considering he lends money for a living.
But that's the story of credit unions nowadays, including the one in southeastern Texas that Speed runs, where real estate lending has doubled over the past five weeks, and auto loans are on track to grow 40% to 60% in October.
Talk Today, 10/10/2008, by Sandra Block — Peoria, Illinois: I have most of my money in a credit union, I have not heard much of anything on how this is affecting the credit unions in the news. Can you answer that or is there somewhere online that a person could check?
Sandra Block: Like federally insured bank deposits, credit union accounts are protected for up to $100,000, or $200,000 for qualified joint accounts.
(Scroll down to the second section)
Atlanta, 09/19/08— "If there’s a calm in the economic storm, it may be credit unions, whose investors are sleeping through the night," reported Susan Lisovicz of CNN Thursday during an interview with Neil Weinberg, senior editor of Forbes Magazine.
"We've had mergers and bailouts and a lot of us are nervous. Tell us why we should take a second look or in some instances a first look at credit unions," asked Lisovicz, amid banner headlines that said, "Credit unions weather rough seas."
08/28/2008, 9:36 A.M. ET, by Brett Arends — For obvious reasons, many Americans are pretty unimpressed with the banking industry right now.
So maybe it's a good time to look at an alternative – like moving your account to a local credit union instead.
These not-for-profit co-operatives have a kind of sleepy, backwater image. They're often seen as the local libraries of banking. But that's too bad. The chances are they didn't pay their chief executive $10 million while writing off billions in subprime loans. And they can offer you some surprisingly good deals.
Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@wsj.com