Before a credit union fails, the NCUA will try to sell its deposits and loans to another credit union. If the sale is successful, customers’ accounts are simply transferred.

If not, the NCUA will send customers a check for the insured balance of their deposits, usually within a few days of a credit union’s closing.

Deposits beyond $250,000 aren’t insured, even if they’re in an eligible account, but there’s a way around that: You can distribute your money across different credit unions to get coverage.

Credit union failure rates have typically been lower for larger than for smaller credit unions and lower for credit unions than for commercial banks of similar size. Credit unions also impose lower loss rates on their insurance fund than commercial banks. When failures do occur, it is most often small FICUs and "mundane” causes, such as a lack of trained managers, weak lending and collection operations, poor record keeping, and closures of sponsoring companies.

Bottom line - Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives owned and controlled by their local members. Banks, on the other hand, are for-profit institutions owned and controlled by their shareholders. So, unlike banks, credit unions have their members’ best interests at heart and keep their money in the community. Banks serve their customers. Credit unions serve their members..

I, personally, am a customer who uses a bank only for my primary checking account. I am a member who uses a credit union to save money.