credit union

(noun)

A financial cooperative similar to a bank but owned and controlled by its members, often restricted to a local area or sometimes to a single profession.

Related Terms

Examples of credit union in the following topics:

  • The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)

    • Congress to regulate, charter, and supervise federal credit unions.
    • The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is the United States independent federal agency that supervises and charters federal credit unions.
    • The chartering of credit unions in all states is due to the signing of the Federal Credit Union Act by President Franklin D.
    • At first, the newly created Bureau of Federal Credit Unions was housed at the Farm Credit Administration.
    • As the insurer and regulator of federally chartered credit unions, the NCUA oversees credit union safety and soundness, much like the FDIC.

  • Credit Unions

    • Credit unions are substitutes and competitors of banks, owned by members as a financial cooperative.
    • Credit unions usually offer better rates on deposits and lower costs for loans
    • Credit unions offer access to borrowing options not always available at traditional banks
    • Credit unions increase competition (big banks tend to be oligopolies, while credit unions are intrinsically smaller in scale, thus high in quantity)
    • Credit unions are smaller, and therefore more likely to go out of business

  • Depository Institutions

    • Credit unions are another depository institution.
    • Credit unions are similar to commercial banks except they restrict membership.
    • Credit union extends membership to people who share a common interest.
    • For example, many states have credit unions for schoolteachers.
    • Consequently, the commercial banks want credit unions on equal grounds with commercial banks because a credit union does not pay income taxes on its profit.

  • Websites

  • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

    • United States banks and credit unions are closely regulated and supervised to ensure that consumer money is safe.
    • Banks and credit unions are required to comply with regulations.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures deposit accounts for banks and the National Credit Union Administration for credit unions.

  • Employment in Finance

    • Financial services encompasses a broad range of organizations that manage money, including banks, credit unions, credit card companies, insurers, consumer finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds, some government sponsored enterprises, and other financial institutions, including peer-to-peer lending platforms.
    • Workers may be employed in a variety of functions by credit card issuers, such as customer service, foreign exchange service, high-profile trading, and airport currency exchangers.
    • Credit analysts work in a variety of institutions to assess the creditworthiness of firms, governments, or individuals for loans.

  • Credit Cards

    • A credit card is a payment card issued to users as a system of payment.
    • Credit cards are issued by an issuer like a bank or credit union after an account has been approved by the credit provider, after which cardholders can use it to make purchases at merchants accepting that card.
    • As all credit cards charge fees and interest, some customers become so indebted to their credit card provider that they are driven to bankruptcy.
    • Merchants are charged several fees for accepting credit cards.
    • Merchants may charge users a "credit card supplement," either a fixed amount or a percentage, for payment by credit card.

  • Credit Ratings

    • Credit ratings are determined by credit ratings agencies.
    • A sovereign credit rating is the credit rating of a sovereign entity like a national government.
    • A credit score is primarily based on credit report information, typically from one of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
    • Income is not considered by the major credit bureaus when calculating a credit score.
    • The credit bureaus all have their own credit scores: Equifax's ScorePower, Experian's PLUS score, and TransUnion's credit score, and each also sells the VantageScore credit score.

  • Landrum-Griffin Act

    • Declare that every union officer must act as a fiduciary in handling the assets and conducting the affairs of the union.
    • Limit the power of unions to put subordinate bodies in trusteeship, a temporary suspension of democratic processes within a union.
    • Provide certain minimum standards before a union may expel or take other disciplinary action against a member of the union.
    • On the other hand, it cannot be said that union corruption and abuses of union power have disappeared.
    • But such conduct in the union movement is not as common as it was twenty years ago; and, in large measure, that can be credited to the existence of the Landrum-Griffin Act. " Senator Griffin acknowledged the shortcomings, particularly with regard to the Teamsters.

  • The Great Steel Strike

    • It was a union of skilled iron and steel workers which was deeply committed to craft unionism.
    • The chaos and violence resulting from this strike led to a wave of de-unionization.
    • The union attempted to organize workers in the tin industry, but a sudden wave of industry consolidations left the union facing the gigantic US Steel Corporation.
    • Inflation pushed employees to demand wage increases, which the AFL and the AA were quick to claim credit for.
    • When the AFL did organize a local union, the federation's patronizing attitudes and management style alienated workers and left the local union powerless.