Credit unions have long played up their role as the little guys of the financial industry. With their narrowly defined clientele, limited list of products and often a single branch, they could focus on providing old-fashioned, personalized service to their members. But with the recent financial crisis, many credit unions saw an opportunity to compete more directly with banks and add some disaffected bank customers to their membership rosters.

Today's credit union is serving up more of what consumers expect from a bank, including access to their accounts online, student loans and business loans. With economic constraints limiting their physical growth, credit unions also have embraced e-banking as one way to expand.

"The capital challenges that they're having, given the state of the industry, are forcing them to slow brick-and-mortar growth and aggressively expand into those electronic channels," says Chuck Fagan, chief sales officer for PSCU Financial Services, a credit union service organization based in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Here are five of the top areas in which credit unions are expanding their products and services.