What's the difference: credit union vs. bank?

I came across this great blog posting called Communicating the "Difference" by John Cote which can be found at: http://www.opensourcecu.com/articles/2007/03/19/communicating-the-difference#comments

It's about explaining to people the difference between a credit union and a bank. I myself have had to explain this one several times to many people. Usually I give the quick, "A bank was originally formed to invest and lend money to commercial businesses who at a much later time began investing and lending money to regular people through it's retail branches. A credit union is a membership of regular people investing and lending money amongst each other, the regular people, instead of primarily targeting commercial entities."

I still get blank looks at the end of that explanation which is why I enjoyed John's entry so much when he said,'How is a credit union different from a bank? These and other cosmic queries are often met with a shrug, a vacant stare, and if the questioner is lucky in the latter case, a quick “I’m not sure, let me get somebody else that can help you.'"

Here are a few of many items that differentiate a credit union from a bank:

• They don’t have customers - instead they have members
• Money deposits are considered shares into the financial institution.
• Tax-exempt
• Not-for-profit
• Volunteer and unpaid board of directors.

Clearly - this cannot be recreated by a bank.