Credit Unions Growing In New York

Albany, NY (WIBX) - One sector of the economy that is doing better, especially in New York, is that occupied by local credit unions.

Kristy Nole, Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications with FirstSource Federal, says credit unions now have services that were once provided only by the big names.  She says too that she is not shocked by the rise in popularity of alternative banking options, simply because credit union members are the company's shareholders, and the board answers to those customer members.

She says, however, that credit unions are not anti-bank; they just do things differently.

And, although there are more members, Nole says there are not more credit unions.

During the second quarter of this year more than 52-thousand New Yorkers joined credit unions.  According to the Credit Union Association of New York membership growth in New York state was 3.7 percent, which is 1.5 times higher than the national average of 2.3 percent.