Oregon CUs Elicit Few Complaints From Consumers

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Credit unions caused just 1.7% of total consumer complaints in Oregon, according to the state's Department of Justice 2006 Top 10 Consumer Complaint list.

Financial institutions (as a broad category) dropped down to the second spot after telecommunications. The remaining eight categories in the top ten were motor vehicle sales, collection agencies, Internet retailers, sweepstakes/prize promotions/foreign lotteries, health care, gasoline prices, Internet auctions and construction contractors.

Within the financial institution category, credit unions received a scant 1.7% of total complaints, the lowest of all subcategories listed. The financial institution category breaks down as follows:

Financial Institutions (761), Credit Cards (286), Real Estate Financing (89), Sales Financing (78), Mortgage Brokers (78), Commercial Banking (76), Consumer Lending (26), Credit Unions (13).

The low number of complaints attributed to CUs is also reflected in CUNA's 2006 National Member Survey. And although, the 2005 American Banker/Gallup Consumer Survey, showed an increase in bank customer satisfaction credit unions once again achieved the highest score in this category: 71%.