Research Compares Bank, CU PricingDecisions

MADISON, Wis. - (07/05/05) Research has confirmed what many mighthave suspected: credit unions and banks differ in their response tochanges affecting the price of their products and services. In thenew research from the Filene Research Institute, entitled "PricingMovements and For-Profit Behavior: A Comparison of Banks and CreditUnions," author William E. Jackson III of the University of NorthCarolina-Chapel Hill, found that credit unions change savings ratesduring economic cycles at different speeds than banks do, withbanks moving faster. Jackson noted that banks adjust savings ratesdownward significantly more rapidly than they adjust them upward,he said. "However, credit unions do not show this type of profitenhancing pricing behavior. Credit unions adjust savings ratesdownward at the same speed as they adjust them upward," he said."At the same time, rates on loans examined in the study did notexhibit different pricing patterns in upward and downward rateenvironments for either banks or credit unions."