Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. In the early stages of development of a nation's financial system, unserved and underserved populations had to rely on risky and expensive informal financial services from sources like money lenders, ROSCAs and saving at home. Credit unions proved they could meet demand for financial services that banks could not: from professional, middle class and poorer people. Those that served poorer urban and rural communities became an important source of microfinance.
The first working credit union models sprang up in Germany in the 1850s and 1860s, and by the end of the 19th Century had taken root in much of Europe. They drew inspiration from cooperative successes in other sectors, such as retail and agricultural marketing (see history of the cooperative movement). Similar institutions were independently developed somewhat earlier in Japan, in the early 19th century, by agrarian reformer and economist Ninomiya Sontoku. In these village unions, known as gojōkō (五常講), each person of the village union could borrow fund interest free for 100 days, while the entire membership shared the cost in case of default.
The language related to credit unions can be confusing. In spite of the word 'credit' in their name, even the earliest credit unions usually offered both savings and credit services, and often payment and insurance services as well. And they were known by (and are still known by) a wide range of names, for example: 'people's banks', 'cooperative banks' and 'credit associations'.
Credit unions are best identified by their adherence to cooperative principles, especially related to membership and control. For example, after World War II many organizations were started by and/or controlled by governments in the developing world, and were described as 'credit unions' or 'cooperatives' by their promoters. However, government control, whether in a capitalist or communist political context, represents a fundamental repudiation of cooperative principles.
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case of default. The language related to creditunions can be confusing. In spite of the word 'credit' in their name, even the earliest creditunions usually...
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The National CreditUnion Administration (NCUA) is an American government-backed insurer ofcreditunions in the United States, one of two agencies that...
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it is one of the oldest and largest creditunions in the country. With more than $9 billion in assets, it is the 22nd largest creditunion in the country...
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Foundation to develop creditunions in Africa and Latin America. CreditunionHistoryofcreditunions "Team". World Council ofCreditUnions. "WOCCU names Elissa...
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The Irish League ofCreditUnions (ILCU) (Irish: Conradh na hÉireann de Chomhair Chreidmheasa) is a trade association for creditunions in Ireland. It operates...
Manitoba. ACU merged with Astra and Vantis creditunions in 2007. As of 2024[update], Assiniboine CreditUnion has 18 branches: 16 in Winnipeg and 2 in...
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Creditunions in the United Kingdom were first established in the 1960s. Creditunions are member-owned financial cooperatives operated for the purpose...
to CreditUnions Online, "the largest creditunion in Georgia is Delta Community CreditUnion...". Delta Community is a state-chartered creditunion organized...
The Bureau of Federal CreditUnions was a federal agency in the United States that supervised and chartered federal creditunions from 1934 until 1970...
Redstone Federal CreditUnion was recognized as the CreditUnionof the Year by the National Association of Federally Insured CreditUnions. Products and...
the 2010 Bank of Montreal v Innovation CreditUnion case. Creditunions in Canada Historyofcreditunions List of banks and creditunions in Canada "Innovation...
recognition of “industry standard-setting creditunions,” according to Raddon, the financial industry research and analysis arm of Fiserv. The creditunion was...
as of 2021 has $17.2 billion in assets under its administration. Servus was created through the merger of several smaller regional creditunions in Alberta...
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benefits of the credit cards. According to The Wall Street Journal, creditunions are particularly competitive on auto loans, with the average credit-union rates...
credit unions, it is third-largest, based on asset size. STCU was voted Best Bank/CreditUnion each year from 2006-2010 and Best CreditUnion from 2011-2024...
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