Clark Howard recommends credit unions over banks. However I would not recommend this credit union over most banks. My problems with them:
1) They charge you $3/month to each and every member, no matter what. With my current bank, all monthly fees are waived since I have direct deposit. Not so with AZFCU. $3/month, regardless.
2) After seven ATM withdrawals in a month, you're charged a hefty fee for each additional ATM transaction. I found this out the hard way when I visited Europe and would withdraw relatively small amounts each time, so that I wasn't carrying too much cash on me. I get home and what do I find? Fees out the wazoo. My current bank has no such limit.
3) Their loan rates are noncompetitive. Even as a member I was always able to get better loan rates at other banks. And I'm talking a couple of house refis, a home equity line of credit, and a car loan. I always did better going outside the credit union.
Maybe Clark Howard has other credit unions in mind when he recommends them over the "big monster mega-banks." This isn't one of them.