Same here - I am a huge fan of Credit Unions. However they are not as developed in the UK as in the US, and although my Credit Union does online payments, they can only be sent to your own registered bank account - as I found out when I set one up to pay a large bill. Their system allowed me to set it up, but it wasn't paid.
I think this has something to do with the Banking regulations in the UK, which stipulate very tough conditions for any alternative forms of banking.