Why don't people leave banks for credit unions?

I do all my everyday banking through Navy Federal Credit Union, which originally limited its membership but is now open to anyone. Mortgage, checking acct, two standard savings accts, CDs, Visa acct--and I don't have any of these issues with fees and so on. A nonmember ATM is $1, I don't pay a dime for my checking or savings accts, I earn a small dividend each month, and if I goof and overdraw my checking acct they automatically transfer money from savings to cover it without charging a fee. (This has only happened 2-3 times in ten years, so maybe that would change if I did it more often.)

Anyone got insight to share? Just curious.

The reason most people don't leave banks is that all the advantages you've just described -- and more -- are available at most banks for people in good financial standing. I'm a customer at a major national bank and they treat me like a king. Free everything (even free overdraft protection -- not that I use it), plus a high-interest savings account, free safe deposit box and a really good web site that lists all my accounts, credit cards and retirement investments in one place. They even have their own iPhone app. And I never pay ATM fees because they have an ATM on every freaking corner of this city. I'm lucky -- I have the balances and credit history that qualify me for a better suite of products and services (well, it's more than luck). It's only the people who keep single digit balances, bounce checks, fail to pay their credit cards bills, etc. that end up getting screwed. If you're a good customer, you mostly get good service. And before anyone gets sanctimonious about how banks only care about people with money, take a look at your own job/profession -- do you give preferential treatment to your best customers? Yeah, that's what I thought. I've heard a lot of talk lately about how people are moving to credit unions, but I wonder if this might be a disaster in the making -- for credit unions. Most of the people moving are, frankly, the kinds of customers that the banks aren't all that excited about anyway. Will the credit unions end up paying a price when their customer ranks swell with people bouncing checks and keeping accounts with near-zero balances? Will they be forced to enact their own draconian fees and penalties in order to pay the bills?

I just investigated credit unions after another Slate poster praised them- I wanted to be rid of the scumbag big banks on principle.

Uhhh...turns out to be not so easy. They are organized by profession - transit workers credit union, realtors credit union, etc. Also many do not even have ATM cards.

big disappointment.

You get a free safe deposit box watsonho? I'm gonna call you out on this. What bank are you with ? Let me guess..... you can't tell me because of security reasons. You're probably a teller at a major bank.

Before you "call me out," you might want to do a quick Google search for "Free safe deposit box." I found three different deals at three different banks just by browsing through a few pages. Yes, you do need to have some significant balances on hand to get that in most cases (as a mentioned in my post), but they are out there.

Come on dude, don't be so lazy. Do your own research.

If you have "some significant balances on hand" then you are in fact paying - via the interest on your money being loaned out to other people, which they are retaining. What a tool.