Next year is looking even brighter for credit unions if the current trend of financial experts talking them up as an alternative to banks continues.

Yesterday CBS Early Show Financial Contributor Vera Gibbons touted how creditworthy consumers "stand a better chance of getting a personal loan at a credit union than you do at a commercial bank" since credit unions "are not as tangled up in the subprime mess as the banks were, so they're in a better position to loan." Gibbons also pointed out that the lower rates at credit unions can help consumers keep a few hundred dollars in their pockets annually.

In the January issue of O Magazine Financial Guru Suze Orman, in an article entitled "Your 2010 Financial To-Do List," urges consumers to check out a credit union because "credit unions are often a better deal than banks and tend to pay higher yields on deposits."