When we hear the noun “cooperative,” we most likely think of one of three things.
One, we probably think of super-hip residential buildings somewhere cool like Brooklyn, where all the residents own their own condos, and together they own the building.
Two, we probably think of cooperative farms, where people share in the responsibilities of growing produce and raising chickens and whatnot, and also share in the profits from what they sell.
And three, we probably think, “The cool kids say ‘co-op.’”
Well, maybe the cool kids do say co-op. But that’s not the point. The point is that something called a financial cooperative—er, financial co-op—also exists, and it works pretty much the same way as a cooperative farm, though probably (hopefully?) with fewer chickens.
Basically, it’s a bank that’s owned by the people who bank there. In its most common form, we call this kind of financial cooperative a credit union, and some of the plusses of this kind of arrangement might include better customer service, greater benefits to members, and easier-to-understand policies and procedures.