Three credit unions, including the $353 million Air ForceFederal Credit Union, the $16 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Unionand the $54 billion Navy Federal Credit Union are ranked among theTop 5 Military Banking Institutions, according to a recent articleby GoBankingRates.com.

Casey Bond, managing editor for GoBankingRates.com in LosAngeles, said the list of leading military FIs was compiled as partof the website's Financial Freedom series. She said selections werebased on the types of services and programs offered.

“Our research revealed that not all financial institutionsunderstand the unique challenges military members face, especiallyduring deployment,” Bond said. “Through our research we've noticeda lack of resources focused on offering financial products formilitary families and their specific needs, which is why we havecreated this list.”

Air Force FCU was at the top of the list, followed in order byUSAA Bank, PenFed, Navy Federal and Armed Forces Bank.

The article recognized the 37,000-member Air Force FCU of San Antonio for its sequestration assistanceprogram, which is providing special arrangements for accounts andloans for members impacted by the current sequestration.

The 1.2 million-member PenFed in Alexandria, Va., was featured for its onlineDeployment Guide, which provides information about managingpersonal data, accounts, securities, insurance, real estate, willsand trusts, credit card accounts, bills, debts and other financialconcerns to assist military members who are deployed.

The 4.3 million-member Navy Federal of Vienna, Va., was highlighted for its ActiveDuty Checking, which offers perks such as ATM fee rebates up to $20and free military checks for the life of the account.