The constant battle between credit unions and the banks in portland oregon

Posted by Sarah Addyson on November 25th, 2019

Banks in portland oregon are in a constant rush to acquire new customers and keep the old ones. Because oregon credit unions are offering better interest rates and better customer service, banks are forced to compete through other means like a larger number of branches and covered area. In recent years the fight is slowly transferred online. They fight using the benefit of convenience and new financial services.

A credit union is a financial institution owned by its members. It offers the same services as a bank. Because of the conflict in interest, there’s a constant battle for clients. The limited size of oregon credit unions offers the possibility to have a higher quality customer service than the big banks in portland oregon. Because of the exclusive requirements, they have constraints on the number of members they can acquire and the cover of their services is limited. For example, it’s not a good choice for a person that travels a lot to become a member of a union. A big bank will save him more money due to a large number of branches and ATMs and lower interest rates in other countries.

There are 4 main types of credit unions in this battle:

- The first type contains the credit unions made for the employees of a company or institution. Here are unions for a large number of professions, like police officer union, firemen union, government workers unions and so on.

- Credit unions made for some organizations like churches, or the military. This type also refers to associations that create a credit union for their members.

- Credit unions made for the specific location of Oregon, or all the Portland for bigger credit unions. They are very helpful for those that rarely travel outside the cover of the union. But the disadvantages, their members have, rise immensely after leaving the location.

- National credit unions, made under the federal law, operate at large scale through the internet. They allow anyone, including those in Oregon, to join with the only conditions to be adult and a citizen of the U.S. But their reach is, predominantly, online market, they have little reach outside of it.

Competition of banks in portland oregon

A bank is a financial institution that has the main goal of maximizing profit. Due to this reason, it loses to credit unions in terms of interest rates. In recent years due to a rise in competition and speed with which information travels this gap in interest rates started to close.

There are 2 main types of banks:

- Commercial banks that target the business market, offering financial services that improve the efficiency of business operations.

- Retail banks that target individuals and families, offering safer places to deposit money and loans that help the rise of the economy through consumer spending.

The main advantage banks have in this battle is the target market. Due to the lack of requirements, they have many times more potential customers than a credit union. Even banks with lower quality acquire enough clients to make a large profit.

The big banks have a second advantage in their high number of branches and ATM. Because they cover the country and even have partnerships internationally, they can focus on those who travel a lot. And in recent years the number of travellers had risen exponentially.

Battle on the internet

The new battleground for oregon credit unions and banks is the internet. Because the laziness increased with the rise of technology, the internet became the best tool to use convenience to attract clients. It’s much easier and comfortable for a person to use financial services through the internet than walking to the branch of a bank or union. The battle is slowly transferred completely on the internet.

Banks and unions develop new online services used to attract new customers and keep the old ones. For example, free tools for online investing. They have no commissions for investing and offer a savings function for the money that remains in the account unused. This way they incentivize their clients to keep more money in their accounts.

Resource box: The benefits given by the  banks in portland oregon  are constantly growing. If the  oregon credit unions  don’t keep up with bank they may get slowly out of the race. But this battle only benefits the customers as they get much better interest rates and new financial services and tools.