|
|
Article: Credit Unions
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
CREDIT UNIONS
CREDIT UNIONS.
The first 190 credit unions in the United States, organized between 1909 and 1921, differed from other depository institutions in the following ways: (1) officers were volunteers; (2) members were skilled artisans and thus had a common occupational bond; (3) the purpose was to help members accumulate capital so that they could set up their own businesses; and (4) they were democratic. Deposits took the form of dividend-paying share accounts. Regardless of the amount deposited, each of the 72,310 members of the first credit unions had only one vote in the elections of the committees that decided on loans and investments.
Credit unions did not have any ...