[quote=Sandiagon][quote=sd_matt]I moved two thirds of my savings from Wells to Cabrillo Credit Union a couple months ago. Unfortunately Cabrillos customer service kinda sucks so I’m just letting the $$ sit there and continuing to use Wells for day to day. No easy answer. [/quote]
I believe credit union’s insurance is not as good as FDIC. Does anybody have any experience with bankrupt credit union?[/quote]
I don’t know what the limits are on credit union deposit insurance, nor do I know if or how they’ve been changed recently (as in the case of the banks) during the crisis. (I should know this but I don’t and I’m too lazy to look it up.) But, the NCUSIF is just like the FDIC in that ultimately it’s backed by the Treasury (that is, We the People). So, as long as you’re beneath the limit for NCUSIF insurance at your credit union, you’re fine even if the credit union goes into receivership.
Generically, credit unions tend to be more conservative and better capitalized than banks. They’re also terribly inefficient because they are, for all intents and purposes, quasi-non-profit organizations that don’t pay taxes, so there’s a boatload of fat at most credit unions. Generically, credit unions have a lot of exposure to auto and SFR loans. That’s probably 75% of the aggregate balance sheets of credit unions nationwide. But they tend to have very little exposure to commercial credits – C&I, C&D, CRE, etc. So, they are in HISTORICALLY safer credits, but I gotta believe that all that exposure to auto and SFR credits is going to end up shuttering a whole lot of credit unions over the next few years. (We’ve already seen a few shut down in this cycle.)
I can’t imagine that things at SDCCU will turn out well given their exposure to SD real estate and auto loans. If you want to see how a former SD-based credit union that converted to an S&L several years (but still does typical credit union lending) back is doing, you can look at FPTB. It ain’t pretty. I have a friend who knows the chief credit officer at SDCCU (I’ve never met the man myself) and this friend told me he’s “extremely concerned” about the state of the loan portfolio. Take that for what it’s worth – possibly nothing.
