From our friend at PDLindustryblog (who also has a couple of new posts of his own)  regarding the credit union alternative discussed below:

Now, we’ve seen this before and it’s ironic that you never hear a follow up story. In Illinois, South Side Community Federal received a $50k subsidy from Chase bank. The end result? They never tell you. The do offer a PAL (payday alternative loan). Here’s the catch: If your credit score is under 650, you have to put up $250 in cash as collateral to get up to a $500 loan.

Good luck with that one.