LAKE FOREST, Ill.—Thrifts are beating banks and credit unions in offering weekend hours, with two-thirds of thrift institutions open on Saturday compared with a little more than half of banks and CUs.
According to a Moebs $ervices June 2014 study of more than 2,800 depository institutions, 66.5% of thrifts are open Saturday, compared with 56.5% of CUs and 56.4% of national banks.Thrifts lead Sunday hours as well, with 1.9% open, compared with 1.5% of national banks and 1.1% of credit unions.The Moebs Study showed large variances in weekend hours by locale and region of the country.
In the east, 72.3% of FIs are open on Saturday. About the same number of depositories are open in the midwest (67.9%), far ahead of the 39.8% of southern institutions that are open on Saturday. Only about half (47.8%) of western FIs are open on Saturday—but those branches are usually open for one more hour of business, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The rest of the U.S. is open from 9 a.m. to noon.
In terms of metropolitan areas, Chicago leads in Saturday hours with 90.6% of banks, thrifts and CUs open, followed by Boston (86.1%) and Philadelphia (81.1%). Pittsburgh has the fewest number of financial institutions open on Saturday (22.2%), followed by Miami (29%). New Hampshire leads all states, with 94.4% of FIs open Saturday. Next are: Massachusetts (84.9%), Illinois and New Jersey (both over 80%). Only 31.6% of financial institutions in Florida are open on Saturday.