What is a credit union?

A credit union is a not-for-profit, cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members. Credit unions serve people that share something in common such as an employer or place of worship. Credit unions allow members to pool their savings, lend to one another, and have a voice in the governance in the organization. This aspect of credit unions is particularly appealing given the increasing alienation many consumers are feeling from mega banks.
Credit unions are similar to banks in that they offer many of the same services such as check and savings accounts as well as loans. Deposits are also federally insured with credit unions as they are with banks. Credit unions combine these services with many other benefits such as personal service, generally lower interest rates and higher investment returns.

Steps to take to find a credit union to join. Contact your employer to see if your company provides this benefit. If not, ask them to consider making the valuable benefit of credit union membership available. If a family or household member is eligible to join a credit union you may be eligible to join because of your relationship. Also, try contacting occupational, fraternal, religious and alumni organizations you are affiliated with to see if they have a credit union you can join. CreditUnionRate.com is also a good source to use when searching for a credit union.
What are benefits of a credit union?
Because credit unions are democratic, member-owned cooperatives, every member, regardless of account size, has a voice in governance. Each year, your local credit union holds an annual election and meeting where members select candidates for the Board of Directors from among its members to represent them in setting the policies of the credit union. As a member-owner of your credit union, you are entitled to vote on credit union business and elect new board members. You can also serve on your credit union's volunteer board or one of its committees. Credit union elections are based on a one-member, one-vote structure. This structure is unlike the for-profit, public companies where stockholders vote according to the number of shares of stock they own.

Once you become a member of the credit union you always remain a member - as long as you maintain an account. Even after your discharge from services or relocation you can still be a member of your credit union.
Again, because you are a member-owner of your not for profit credit union you derive financial benefits that are reserved for stock holders at for profit banks. In other words, you get higher interest rates on basic savings (share) accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts and CDs. Many credit unions also pay "bonus" dividends in especially good years.
Credit unions also offer lower interest rates on credit cards and loans than banks. This comes as a strong point in favor of the credit unions. Many young families who are just starting out have very demanding financial needs and most often they are required to stretch their limited dollars. From credit cards to car loans, credit unions consistently offer lower rates, better terms and lower fees.
This holds true even for mortgage rates and equity loans. Credit unions are known to provide better and competitive mortgage rates and equity loans. Not only are the rates low, but closing costs generally are much lower than those paid through a conventional lender.
Your local credit union helps you make the most of your money. From personalized service to low interest and high returns its easy to see why 89 million members depend on a credit union to meet their banking needs.

know the history of credit unions?

The History of Credit Unions

The credit union movement began with a simple idea - that people could achieve a better standard of living for themselves and others by pooling their savings and making loans to neighbors and co-workers.

1800s

• 1844 — Rochdale, England — workers and weavers create a democratic consumer cooperative establishing the credit union principles used today.
• 1849 — Germany — Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, a lawyer, establishes a credit society to help shopkeepers and urban workers find relief from loan sharks. Friedrich Raiffeisen, considered the German founder of credit cooperatives, also actively works to ensure better financial services for the working class.

Early 1900s

• 1901 — Levis, Quebec, Canada – First North American credit union established.
• 1909 — Manchester, New Hampshire – First U.S. credit union established.
• 1921 — Boston, Massachusetts – Edward A. Filene, a wealthy merchant considered the "father of U.S. credit unions," and Roy F. Bergengren, a lawyer, organize the Credit Union National Extension Bureau, with goals to enact credit union laws and form credit unions. Filene's ideas stemmed in part from a 1907 visit to India where he observed a system of agricultural cooperatives.
• 1934 — Washington, D.C. – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act into law – passed in large part due to Texas Senator Morris Sheppard and Texas Congressman Wright Patman. A service organization, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), forms to provide insurance, auditing, and supplies to credit unions.

1960s

• 1967 — Washington, D.C. – the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) is established to protect the Federal Credit Unions' interests in the nation’s capital.

1970s

• 1970 — The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) forms to oversee Federal Credit Unions. The Federal Credit Union Act is amended to authorize federal insurance for members’ savings accounts.

1980s

• 1980 — Deregulation in the financial services industry creates new product offerings like share drafts (also known as checking accounts) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Plus, a rate ceiling on savings accounts is removed.
• 1982 — NCUA interprets the Federal Credit Union Act to allow individual select employee groups to join a credit union, as long as members in each group share a common bond (i.e. manufacturing, high-tech, education, etc.).

1990s

• 1990 — In conjunction with four North Carolina banks, the American Bankers Association (ABA) files suit against NCUA and the AT&T Family Federal Credit Union over the 1982 interpretation of the Federal Credit Union Act. Bankers are concerned with the authorization to allow select employee groups to join AT&T Family Federal Credit Union who are unrelated to the original credit union sponsor and don’t necessarily share that common bond. The bankers appeal the lower court ruling that favored credit unions.
• 1996 — Following an adverse ruling from the District of Columbia Federal Appeals Court, an injunction is issued prohibiting federal credit unions from taking in members unrelated to their "core" membership group and common bond. This ruling is appealed to the Supreme Court and a partial stay is issued permitting members to sign-up in existing "unrelated" employee groups, but prohibits new employee groups to be added.
• 1998 — On February 25, in a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court rules against consumer choice by upholding the Appeals Court decision. The Supreme Court rules that banks have a stand in suing NCUA.
  
  On March 26, the House of Representatives Banking Committee unanimously passes HR 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act, which protects consumers’ rights to join credit unions.
  
  On April 1, the full House passes HR 1151 by a vote of 411-8.On July 28, the U.S. Senate’s version passes with a vote of 92-6 culminating in a rewrite of the 1934 Federal Credit Union Act.
  
  On August 7, President Bill Clinton signs the Credit Union Membership Access Act into law, giving federal credit unions the authority to add select employee groups with 3,000 or less employee/members, even if they don’t have a relationship with a credit union’s original sponsor.