On Friday I wrote that I doubted that credit unions were going to be able to provide a painless substitute for payday loans. Felix Salmon has responded at length, making three core arguments: 1.  Credit unions already pay their overhead with current operations, so adding on a payday lending service should give them a cost advantage over payday lenders 2.  Credit unions have a very low cost of funds, particularly in today's environment, where savings accounts might as well be ...

A new ad campaign from the $6.5 billion Security Service Federal Credit Union features a couple wise guys – Jimmy and George – trying to shorten their employer’s name to just “Service.” Television, radio, outdoor and Web elements – including a Jimmy and George Facebook page – are part of the effort designed for the San Antonio credit union by Proof Advertising in Austin, Texas. The exploits of the two Security Service “employees” include rearranging lobby furniture, breaking ...

Credit unions around the country have been using a mixture of increased borrower education, a wide variety of mortgage loan products and different loan strategies to help their members qualify for mortgages, industry executives explained. One example of this trend is the 162,000-member, $1.41 million UW Credit Union, headquartered in Madison, Wis. Having a wider variety of mortgage products helps credit unions assist members in overcoming their individual challenges when seeking a mortgage ...