this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
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Asklemmy
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I will start. I'm in the United States.
Credit unions! Nearly half of all Americans are credit union members. They don't seem to be popular in Europe and Asia. A credit union is a not-for-profit co-operative financial institution that essentially provides all the same services as a bank, except it's run as a democratic institution with directors elected by the customers instead of as a profit maximisation machine for shareholders.
The UK has building societies which sound like what you're describing
*had. They've been swallowed whole by the larger banks
Yes, they're similar, but from what I've heard, most UK building societies are basically the same as or worse than banks in terms of fees, rates, and service quality. In the US, most credit unions will absolutely spank the big banks on at least two of those, if not all three.
There's only really one big building society in the UK, which is Nationwide, but they're awesome
The majority of UK building societies turned themselves into banks; maybe twenty years ago when the legislation was passed to enable it. A select few still exist though, but I donβt believe any are that large.