Changing banks

Knight_

Hi all. I've had a checking account with HSBC for about 6 years now, and while it worked well enough when I had access to a branch all the time. Nowadays though, I've been out of college for 2 years and there is only one HSBC in all of Philadelphia that is even reasonably close, and that's still a PITA (15th and Market, woo). So, I'm thinking of switching to a different bank.

I know most of the internet is big on credit unions, so I've been looking into them a bit. Philadelphia Federal Credit Union seems to be pretty decent, but I'm wondering if there is anything I should look out for in this process? What is a good method to determine if a credit union is right for me over an old fashioned bank? What are the drawbacks to a CU over a bank? I've done some research on this here and there, but I'd really like to avoid getting screwed while switching banks, so any advice is appreciated.

a5ehren

The major drawback is that you won't have access to a branch or ATM outside of your area. Not a huge concern as most CUs rebate a certain amount of ATM fees, but it is something to think about. The only case that I could think of a major bank being better than a CU is if you're a big-time traveller and need to have branches everywhere you go.