Credit unions and community banks: how to choose

This guide is for anyone in Central New York opening a first checking account, moving money after a bank merger, or trying to decide between a credit union and a local bank. It explains how the two differ, how your deposits are insured, how credit union membership rules work and what to compare before you switch.

The examples are institutions based in CNY, chosen to show the range of sizes and charters. None is a recommendation, and rates and fees change often, so compare current disclosures yourself. Facts were checked as of October 2, 2026.

Credit unions and banks: the basic difference

Credit unions are financial cooperatives owned by the people who keep money there. Members elect a volunteer board, usually at an annual meeting, and the credit union returns earnings to members through rates and fees instead of paying shareholders. AmeriCU Credit Union, for example, describes a seven-member, all-volunteer board elected by members each year, and Empower Federal Credit Union tells members they are owners, not customers.

Most banks are companies owned by shareholders. “Community bank” is a loose term for banks with local ownership or local decision-making, and the term covers everything from a single-office savings and loan to a regional bank with branches in several states. Both credit unions and banks take deposits, make loans and run checking accounts, debit cards and mobile apps, and both are federally insured when they carry the right sign.

How your money is insured

Credit union accounts are insured by the National Credit Union Administration, an independent federal agency Congress created in 1970. The NCUA’s Share Insurance Fund insures individual accounts up to $250,000, a member’s interest in all joint accounts combined up to $250,000, and IRA and Keogh retirement accounts separately up to $250,000. The fund is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States and covers all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered ones. The NCUA notes that a few state-chartered credit unions use private insurers whose coverage carries no federal backing, so look for the official NCUA sign, which federally insured credit unions must post at teller stations and on their websites.

Bank deposits are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC says deposits are automatically insured to at least $250,000 at each insured bank. Some products sold at banks are not deposits and are not insured: mutual funds, annuities, life insurance, stocks and bonds, crypto assets, municipal securities and the contents of a safe deposit box.

To confirm coverage before you open an account, search the FDIC’s BankFind Suite for banks or the NCUA’s Research a Credit Union tool for credit unions.

Who charters and regulates them

The NCUA charters and regulates federal credit unions, the ones with “Federal Credit Union” or FCU in their names. State-chartered credit unions and state-chartered banks answer to the New York State Department of Financial Services, which says the department supervises more than 1,300 banks and financial institutions, including credit unions. A charter can change: AmeriCU, the credit union founded in Rome, switched from a federal charter to a New York State community charter in 2000.

How credit union membership works

Banks have no membership requirement. Credit unions can only serve people within their field of membership, which AmeriCU defines as “the area where a credit union is authorized to offer membership eligibility.” That can be a list of counties, a list of employers, or both, and immediate family of current members usually qualify. Three local examples show how much the rules vary:

• In New Hartford, GPO Federal Credit Union takes anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Onondaga, Oneida, Madison, Herkimer, Otsego, Chenango or Hamilton counties.
• Empower, whose headquarters has a Syracuse mailing address, combines employees of many companies with a list of places. In CNY the list includes the cities of Syracuse and Utica, the Town of Geddes, Oswego County, designated parts of Liverpool and the Village of New York Mills; farther away it includes Buffalo, Binghamton and Elmira. Family members of current members also qualify, and a share savings account opens with $1.
• AmeriCU, which started in Rome, says the credit union received approval to expand into 27 more counties, for a total of 51 counties across the state.

CNY-based institutions, by type

The three credit unions differ in size and history. AmeriCU began in 1950 as the Griffiss Employees Credit Union, operating from a desk at Griffiss Air Force Base, and now reports more than 200,000 members and 24 locations in Central and Northern New York. Empower’s headquarters at 1 Member Way accepts mailed checks but no in-person transactions, and the main phone line is (315) 477-2200. GPO lists branches including downtown Utica at 301 Bleecker St., Barneveld, Chittenango and Dolgeville.

Local banks run from one office to more than 200. These figures come from FDIC records unless noted:

• On West Genesee Street, Geddes Federal Savings and Loan Association has one office, in Westvale Plaza at 2208 W. Genesee St. with a Syracuse mailing address, and lists checking, retirement savings, mortgages and home equity loans. The FDIC lists the association’s establishment date as 1948.
• In Utica, Bank of Utica also has a single office, at 222 Genesee St., and dates to 1927.
• In Baldwinsville, Seneca Savings Bank, N.A. has five offices and dates to 1928.
• In Oswego, Pathfinder Bank has 13 offices, and FDIC records trace the original Pathfinder charter to 1859.
• In Norwich, NBT Bank keeps the main office, has 176 offices in all and dates to 1856.
• Of these, the largest by branch count, Community Bank, N.A., reports about 200 customer facilities across Upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, and more than $17 billion in assets. Despite the name, the bank is a large regional institution.

Mergers change names, and sometimes your bank

Mergers can change the name on your account without any action on your part. On July 1, 2026, Utica-based Adirondack Bank merged into Arrow Bank National Association of Glens Falls, according to FDIC records. Arrow’s page for former Adirondack customers, updated August 25, 2026, says branch locations stay the same and old Adirondack checks still work, and the Adirondack website says online banking moves to the Arrow site beginning November 9.

If you had accounts at both banks in a merger, the FDIC insures deposits from the acquired bank separately for at least six months after the merger, so you have time to rearrange accounts that would go over $250,000. Credit unions merge too. AmeriCU’s own history runs through Griffiss-Oneida FCU, a 1985 merger with DeWitt First FCU that created Up State FCU, a 1988 merger with Fort Drum FCU, and the AmeriCU name in 2000.

What to compare

Rates and fees change, so ask each institution for a current fee schedule and account disclosures and compare the same items side by side:

• Monthly maintenance fees, and the balance or direct deposit needed to avoid them.
• Overdraft and nonsufficient funds fees, and whether overdraft coverage is optional.
• Where the branches and fee-free ATMs are, compared with where you live, work and travel.
• Rates on savings, certificates, car loans and mortgages, and whether mortgages are kept in-house or sold.
• Online and mobile banking tools you need, such as mobile check deposit and bill pay.
• For a credit union, whether you qualify for membership and what the opening share deposit is.
• The NCUA or FDIC insurance sign, and a check of the institution in BankFind or Research a Credit Union.

Good to know

These details were current as of October 2, 2026:

• Former Adirondack Bank customers move to Arrow Bank’s online banking beginning November 9, according to the bank’s website, and can call (866) 248-6366 and follow the prompts for former Adirondack customers.
• AmeriCU’s field of membership now covers 51 New York counties after the expansion described on the credit union’s site.
• Deposit insurance limits were $250,000 at both the NCUA and the FDIC as of October 2, 2026.

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