Credit Unions

A credit union is a financial institution that is non-profit, and is owned by its members. Members are selected by a volunteer Board of Directors, and you can only borrow or deposit money with a credit union if you’re a member of the credit union. Credit unions are different from banks and other traditional savings and loan centers in that the members of the credit union are the actual owners and controllers of the institution. Credit unions are co-operative so that policies regarding interest rates, and other finance issues, are created in a way the benefits every member. Credit unions usually pay higher interest rates, or dividends, on shares/deposits, but charge lower interest rates on loans. In order to stay in business credit unions need to have revenues that exceed operating costs – the extra money is used to build capital, and expense loan losses. Banks and credit unions usually offer the same features such as savings and checking accounts, credit cards, and certificates of deposit. Areas of the banking industry that are created for profit conflict with credit unions in that they oppose the tax free structure on earnings that credit unions have. The American Bankers Association is currently trying to revoke the tax free benefits that credit unions have.

In order to qualify as a member of a credit union a client must live, work, or attend school in a defined geographical area. Certain trades people, members of non profit groups, certain occupational groups (like teachers and doctors) all qualify for credit union membership. This is referred to a ‘field of membership’ or a ‘common bond’. Once a member joins they are a member for life, even if their location or occupation changes. However, if a member closes their account, they may not be eligible to re register with a credit union.

In North America, Canada has the highest per capita use of credit unions where more than one third of the population is a member of one. More information about statistics worldwide can be found at the World Council of Credit Unions website http://www.woccu.org/. Most credit union members are located in Quebec and in the western prairies. This high membership is due to the fact that trade associations require credit union enrollment, referred to as credit union leagues. In the US there are about 85 million members of credit unions, but usually only one in seven people actually know that they qualify for membership. All statistical information was gleaned from the World Council of Credit Unions website.

Credit unions in the United States

1st Advantage Federal Credit Union of Newport News, Virginia
Abbott Labratories Empolyees Credit Union (ALEC) of Gurnee, Illinois
Achieva Credit Union of Florida's Tampa Bay Area
Air Academy Federal Credit Union of Colorado Springs, Colorado
Armstrong Associates Frederal Credit Union of Ford City, Pennsylvania
Air Force Federal Credit Union of San Antonio, Texas
America's Christian Credit Union
America First Credit Union of Ogden, Utah
Apple Federal Credit Union
Atlanta Postal Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia
ASI Federal Credit Union of Harahan, Louisiana
Associated Credit Union of Norcross, Georgia
Workmen's Circle Credit Union of Savannah, Georgia
Baxter Credit Union (BCU) of Vernon Hills, Illinois
Bay Federal Credit Union of California's Monterey Bay Area
Bay Gulf Federal Credit Union of Tampa, Florida
Boeing Employees Credit Union of Tukwila, Washington
B.O.N.D. Community Federal Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia (neighborhood membership requirements)
BrightStar Credit Union
Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Capitol Credit Union of Austin, Texas
Catholic & Community Credit Union of Shiloh, Illinois
Catholic Family Federal Credit Union of Wichita, Kansas
Central One Federal Credit Union of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Chartway Federal Credit Union
Clark County Credit Union of Las Vegas, Nevada
Coast Guard Employee's Credit Union of New Orleans, Louisiana
Coastal Federal Credit Union
Columbia Credit Union
CFCU Community Credit Union of Ithaca, New York
CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union] of Alexandria, Virginia
CommunityAmerica Credit Union
Community Trust Credit Union of Gurnee, Illinois
My Consumers Credit Union of Waukegan, Illinois
Covenant Health Credit Union
City of Downey Federal Credit Union
Credit Union Executives Society of Madison, Wisconsin
Credit Union Northwest of Seattle, Washington
Denton Area Teachers Credit Union of Denton, Texas
Delta Community Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia
Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union
Desertview Federal Credit Union
Digital Credit Union of Marlborough, Massachusetts
Downey Federal Credit Union
EDS Employees Federal Credit Union
Educators Credit Union of Racine, Wisconsin
Emory Federal Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia
Ent of Colorado Springs, Colorado
FAA Eastern Region Federal Credit Union of Clark, New Jersey
FAIRWINDS Credit Union of Orlando, Florida
Family First Federal Credit Union of Orem, Utah
First Community Credit Union of Houston, Texas
First Service Federal Credit Union of Columbus, Ohio
First Resource Federal Credit Union of St. Joseph, Michigan
Florida Telco Credit Union
Fort Belvoir Federal Credit Union of Woodbridge, Virginia
Fort Worth Community Credit Union of Bedford, Texas
Genesis Federal Credit Union] (GFCU) of Springfield, Virginia
Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union (GUASFCU) of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Georgia Federal Credit Union
Georgia State University Federal Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia Telco Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia
Gesa Credit Union of Washington state
Golden 1 Credit Union of California
Government Employee's Federal Credit Union (GEFCU) of Austin, Texas
Great Lakes Credit Union of Toledo, Ohio
Great Lakes Credit Union of North Chicago, Illinois
Grossmont Schools Federal Credit Union
Hawaii Schools Federal Credit Union of Honolulu, Hawaii
HEW Federal Credit Union of Alexandria, Virginia
Honolulu Federal Credit Union of Honolulu, Hawaii
Industrial Credit Union of Boston, Massachusetts (est. 1910)
IR Federal Credit Union of Lanham, Maryland
Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union
K-25 Federal Credit Union (more about K-25)
Keesler Federal Credit Union
Kennedy Space Center Federal Credit Union
Kent County Credit Union of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kinecta Federal Credit Union of California
Langley Federal Credit Union of Hampton, Virginia
Latino Community Credit Union of Durham, North Carolina
Liberty Savings Federal Credit Union of Jersey City, New Jersey
Library of Congress Federal Credit Union of Hyattsville, Maryland
Lockheed Georgia Employees' Federal Credit Union of Marietta, Georgia
MACO Educators Federal Credit Union of Woodstock, Georgia
MacDill Federal Credit Union of Tampa, Florida
Marine Federal of Jacksonville, North Carolina
Marriot Employees' Federal Credit Union of Bethesda, Maryland
Mattel Federal Credit Union serving the employees of Mattel, Fisher-Price, and American Girl
Merck Employees Federal Credit Union of Rahway, New Jersey
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union of East Lansing, Michigan
Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union of Kingston, New York
Navy Federal Credit Union
Mon-Oc Federal Credit Union of Monmouth County, New Jersey and Ocean County, New Jersey
NASA Federal Credit Union of Bowie, Maryland
National Capital Federal Credit Union of Washington, D.C.
Naval Surface Warfare Center Federal Credit Union of Dahlgren, Virginia
Newport News Shipbuilding Employees' Credit Union of Newport News, Virginia
North Carolina State Employees' Credit Union
North Districts Community Credit Union of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Northwest Community Credit Union of Oregon
Northwest Federal Credit Union of Herndon, Virginia
O Bee Credit Union of Tumwater, Washington
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Federal Credit Union (more about Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Ohio Educational Credit Union
Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union (more about OCTFCU)
Pacific Marine Credit Union
Partners Federal Credit Union, serving employees of The Walt Disney Company and the Disneyland Resort's operating participants and lessees
Patelco Credit Union
PSECU (Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union)
Philadelphia Federal Credit Union
Pitney Bowes Employees Federal Credit Union
Point Breeze Credit Union of Hunt Valley, Maryland
Point Loma Credit Union of San Diego, California
Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union
Pentagon Federal Credit Union
Portland Federal Employees' Credit Union of Portland, Oregon
Princeton University Federal Credit Union
Provident Credit Union of Redwood Shores, California
Queen of Peace Arlington Federal Credit Union of Arlington, Virginia
Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union of San Antonio, Texas
Robins Federal Credit Union
Royal Credit Union of Eau Claire, Wisconsin
St. Francis X. Federal Credit Union of Petoskey, MI
St. Mary's Bank Credit Union of Manchester, New Hampshire
St. Mary's Credit Union of Marlborough, Massachusetts
San Diego County Credit Union of San Diego, California
San Francisco Police Credit Union of San Francisco, California
Santa Cruz Community Credit Union of Santa Cruz, California
Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union of Seattle, Washington
Service Credit Union (New Hampshire)
Sioux Empire Federal Credit Union of Sioux Falls, SD
Sno Falls Credit Union of Snoqualmie, Washington
Southland Credit Union
Spokane Teachers Credit Union of Spokane, Washington
Star One Credit Union of Sunnyvale, California
State Department Federal Credit Union of Alexandria, Virginia
State Employees Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia
State Employees Credit Union of Raleigh, North Carolina
Student Federal Credit Union at the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1987 as first fully student-run credit union in the Ivy League
Synergy One Federal Credit Union ](SOFCU) of Manassas, Virginia
Taunton Federal Credit Union
Tennessee Credit Union
Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union
Tinker Federal Credit Union
Tower Federal Credit Union of Annapolis, Maryland
Towpath Credit Union
Transportation Federal Credit Union of the Washington D.C. area
Travis County Credit Union of Austin, Texas
Truliant Federal Credit Union
Unity One Federal Credit Union of Fort Worth, Texas
University Credit Union of Orono, Maine
University Federal Credit Union of Austin, Texas
USA Federal Credit Union of San Diego, CA
CalCom Federal Credit Union of Torrance, California
LBS Financial Credit Union of Long Beach, California
U.S. Coast Guard Community Credit Union of Baltimore, Maryland
U.S. Postal Service Federal Credit Union of Clinton, Maryland
University of Virginia Community Credit Union of Charlottesville, Virginia
Veterans Administration Employees Credit Union of Wichita, Kansas
Vista Federal Credit Union, serving employees of The Walt Disney Company in California and Florida
VyStar Credit Union
Washington State Employees Credit Union of Olympia, Washington
Watts United Credit Union of Watts, Los Angeles, California
Wescom Credit Union http://www.wescom.org/, serving anyone living or working in Southern California
Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union of Washington D.C.
Wright-Patt Credit Union of Dayton, Ohio
Xerox Federal Credit Union
Y-12 Federal Credit Union
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_credit_unions"

Credit unions in Canada - 10 largest

A complete list of Canadian credit union locations can be found at the Credit Union Central of Canada http://www.cucentral.ca/

Vancouver City Savings Credit Union British Columbia (8,495)
Coast Capital Savings British Columbia (8,200)
Meridan Credit Union Ontario (3,298)
Capital City Savings Alberta (2,339)
Envision Credit Union British Columbia (2,230)
Community Credit Union Alberta (1,827)
Alterna Savings Ontario (1,699)
Stienbach Credit Union Manitoba (1,681)
Prospera Credit Union British Columbia (1,524)
First Calgary Savings Alberta (1,459)