Credit unions only provide services to their members and they are legally restricted as to whom they can offer services by their bond of membership. Changing economic conditions and regulatory interpretations have led to broadening fields of membership and this has created a widening role for credit unions in providing financial services. Credit unions are mutual organizations. In most cases, their only source of capital are member shares and retained earnings; they do not normally issue stock o  More...

Credit unions have members who own the credit union, not customers . Each person who deposits money in a credit union becomes a member of the credit union because their deposit is considered their share of the ownership. Banks can serve anyone in the general public. Banks have customers who have no voice in how the bank is operated. Banks are owned by a small group of investors who expect a certain return on their investments. Credit unions are democratically controlled. They are run by a volun  More...

In 1844 workers and weavers in Rochdale, England created a democratic consumer cooperative. They organized a store and subscribed to shares in order to raise capital to buy goods at less than retail price and sell them to their members at a savings. The underlying principle of all cooperatives is that the society operates solely for the benefit of its members. In the 1850's and 1860's, Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen were responsible for creating the first credit uni  More...

All funds deposited at credit unions are federally insured up to $250,000 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an agency of the Federal Government. In addition, each IRA account is insured separately by NCUA. Each IRA account is insured for up to $250,000. No member of a federally insured credit union has ever lost any money. Credit unions support the operations of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) by maintaining a deposit with the Fund equal to a percenta  More...

Credit unions are not-for-profit, member-owned, democratically controlled financial cooperatives. They are mutual organizations operated entirely by and for their members. Once you deposit money in a credit union, you become a member, (not just a customer) because your deposit is considered your share of the ownership in that credit union.

Credit unions pay payroll, property and sales taxes as well as various licensing fees. By law, they are exempt from paying income tax because all monies earned after operating expenses and setting aside statutory reserves are returned to members. As not-for-profit institutions, they return excess earnings to members rather than an outside group of stockholders in the form of higher savings rates, lower loan rates, and lower or no fees. Big or small, every credit union shares this not-for-profit   More...

The State's Division of Financial Institutions regulates state-chartered credit unions. Federally-chartered credit unions are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an agency of the Federal Government. Since Connection is a federally regulated, state chartered credit union. Credit unions are subject to much of the same consumer regulations as other financial institutions. In some cases, such as investments and mortgage business lending, credit unions must adhere to mor  More...

Credit unions must generate capital for operating funds by receiving deposits from members and repayment of loans made to members. This is because they don't have the ability to generate capital through the sale of stocks to shareholders.