GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina credit unions have saved consumers $529 million in a single year as a result of lower fees and loan costs plus higher deposit rates, according to an updated research study produced by a University of Alabama economist and former finance adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The study, released by the North Carolina Credit Union League, is an update of a similar three-year-old research report also done by William E. Jackson III, professor of finance and management at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Jackson also holds the Smith Foundation Chair of Business Integrity at the Alabama college.

In the study, titled the Benefits of Credit Unions to NC Consumers of Financial Services, CU membership even benefited customers of banks "since the presence of credit unions" turned into a $77 million savings.