What are the pros and cons of Credit Unions vs Banks in Ireland

Hi there,

I'm new to Ireland and so new to the concept of a credit union. I'd love some information about both in terms of pros and cons. From what I can see, they seem to do the same thing as each other expect Credit Unions only service their own geographic area.

Many thanks,

Deepesh

Qrt

Credit Unions tend to be a lot more local; if you're down country or in a town you'll find you might even know the staff already (but maybe not if you've just moved here). They traditionally specialise in loans, and are usually way more lenient than banks. A lot of people in Ireland would save with the Credit Union as there's still a fair amount of distrust with Irish people and banks. Credit Unions offering current accounts is a relatively new thing, but its getting more popular. They would be limited to day-to-day transactions though, you wouldn't get FX services and other stuff. I think most people in Ireland would have both a bank account and a credit union account.