What types of accounts are available? What other services do they offer that

you would be interested in?

____ Bank: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

____ Credit Union:_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Criteria: Requirements to Open an Account

your ranking: _____

You have to be a member to open an account at a credit union - what are the

requirements for membership at the credit union you've chosen? What is the

minimum dollar amount you can open a checking/share account with at both

the bank and credit union? What else is necessary to open an account?

____ Bank: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

____ Credit Union:_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Copyright Council for Economic Education

Criteria: Interest Rates

your ranking: _____

Choose three types of accounts to compare. Write what type of account it is

and what the interest rate is for each.

Name

Bank

Credit Union

Account 1: _______________________ __________ __________

Account 2: _______________________ __________ __________

Account 3: _______________________ __________ __________

Criteria: Customer Service

your ranking: ____

What are your impressions, based on the website, of the customer service

provided by the depository institution?

____ Bank: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

____ Credit Union: ______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Criteria: Safety

your ranking: _____

Customers are insured up to $100,000 per account at banks (through the FDIC)

and at credit unions (through the NCUA). Are the bank and credit union

you've chosen insured by these federal agencies?

____ Bank: _____________________________________________________________

____ Credit Union: ______________________________________________________

Criteria: Convenience

your ranking: _____

How close is the savings institution?

Does it offer its customers on-line access to their accounts?

Does it have ATM's in the area?

____ Bank: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

____ Credit Union: ______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Copyright Council for Economic Education

2

Step 2: Go back and read over your answers. For each of the six categories,

put a star in the small blank to the left of either "bank" or "credit union" to

indicate which savings institutions has a better (more favorable to you) answer

in that particular category.

Step 3: Re-read the descriptions of the six categories and rank them in the

space to the right of the criteria title in order of importance to you, with 6

being the most important criteria and 1 being the least important.

Step 4: You now have a "winner" for each category, and each category ranked

in order of importance. Award the winning financial institution in each

category the number of points according to the category's rank and add up the

total for the bank and the credit union. (For example, if "safety" is ranked as

your most important category - 6 - and the bank has a star in the margin

indicating that you think it's safer, it gets 6 points.) Write the total number of

points here:

Bank: ______

Credit Union: ________

AND THE WINNER IS. . . _____________________

Do you agree with the answer this process came up with? Is the institution that

"won" really the one you would choose? Why or why not?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

What's your overall impression of the banks vs. credit unions debate? What

aspect of it would you like to know more about?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________