Credit Union Development

The Development Of Credit Unions A credit union is a member owned member controlled not-for-profit cooperative financial institution. Credit unions were formed to provide loans to its members at lower rates of interest than would be other wise available. The first credit union was formed by a group of farmers in Belgium, 1848, during a period of severe economic depression. Townspeople pulled their money together to provide loans to each other. This cooperative approach helped farmers …

…are almost 11,000 credit unions with over 73 million members. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the national trade for credit unions. In addition, there are 50 state credit union leagues and leagues for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The credit union movement is growing throughout the world, including third-world countries and Europe where people need assistance with setting up consumer finance systems. There are over 37,000 credit unions worldwide in 87 nations with over 88 million members.