BANKING ALTERNATIVE'S ATTRACTION CONTINUES CENTURY-OLD APPEAL.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer The first true credit unions sprouted in Germany in the mid-19th century when farmers pooled their money to lend among themselves. In 1900, Alphonse Desjardins brought the concept to Canada and, nine years later, established the first American credit union in New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). . In 1934, Congress passed a federal credit union act In 1934, the U.S. Congress passed the Federal Credit Union Act, which President Roosevelt signed into law. The purpose of the federal law was to make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions. which permitted credit unions to be organized anywhere in the country. Nine years later, there were 8,683 credit unions nationwide, and the industry's numbers peaked in 1969 with 23,876 cooperatives. Since then, mergers have caused the number to dwindle to 12,000. California is the headquarters of 762 credit unions, about 300 of which are based in Los Angeles County. The state's credit unions numbered 1,880 in 1970, but, mirroring the national trends, smaller cooperatives have merged into larger rivals as they strived to remain competitive, said Mark Lowe, spokesman for the California Credit Union League A credit union league (League) is a United States state-level trade association for credit unions, which are non-profit financial cooperatives. Credit union leagues hold a primary interest in the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). in Pomona. Still, membership has continued to rise. Nationally, there are 70 million members today, up from 43 million at the end of the 1970s. Credit unions are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is responsible for chartering, insuring, supervising, and examining federal credit unions (FCUs) and for administering the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. in Alexandria, Va. Like banks, deposits are insured up to $100,000 per account. ``Credit unions are conservatively run financial institutions. Their portfolio is more risk averse Risk Averse Describes an investor who, when faced with two investments with a similar expected return (but different risks), will prefer the one with the lower risk. Notes: A risk averse person dislikes risk. than others,'' said Bob Lostus, an NCUA NCUA National Credit Union Administration (US government) NCUA Nbcs Control Unit Atm spokesman. |
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