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Credit Unions+context
financial institutions owned by members for the purpose of providing reasonable credit and financial management to the members
+resources and best practices
Credit Unions+background
History of credit unions on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union#History
Credit Unions+definitions
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members, and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at reasonable rates, and providing other financial services to its members. Many credit unions exist to further community development or sustainable international development on a local level. Worldwide, credit union systems vary significantly in terms of total system assets and average institution asset size since credit unions exist in a wide range of sizes, ranging from volunteer operations with a handful of members to institutions with several billion dollars in assets and hundreds of thousands of members. Credit unions nonetheless remain typically smaller than banks with, for example, the average U.S. credit union having $93 million in assets versus $1.53 billion in assets for the average U.S. bank, as of 2007.
Credit Unions+where to start
Credit Unions+best practices
World Council of Credit Unions trade association for credit unions
Credit Unions+standards in field
U.S. governmental regulatory agencies require that credit unions restrict their membership to defined segments of the population, such as people who live, work, worship, or attend school in a well-defined geographic area; employees of specific companies or trades; members of specific non-profit groups (alumni associations, conservation or other advocacy organizations, lodges, churches, or the like); or a particular occupational group (teachers, doctors, etc.).[50] In the U.S., this is referred to as a credit union's "field of membership." Internationally it is referred to as the 'common bond' or 'bond of association'.
In the United States, as of 2005 credit unions have 86 million members, which is 43.47% of the economically active population.[1] U.S. credit unions are not-for-profit, cooperative, tax-exempt organizations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_unions_in_the_United_States
