Security Service Federal Credit Union – The ‘People’s Bank’
The security service federal credit union is called the ‘people’s bank’; yet if it’s federal, then how else should it belong to the people?
One definition states that a Credit Union is a non-profit cooperative financial institution known to provide superior membership security service and committed to help its members in sustaining their financial wellbeing. The credit union is characterized as cooperative as it is guided by policies that govern interest rates and other finances to always correspond to serve the needs of all its members as a whole, hence deserving as members’ security service federal credit union.
What sets it apart from other financial institutions like savings and loans and banks most especially is that the credit union’s account members are also the credit union’s owners and managers (through volunteer Board of Directors election among members). Because of this, credit unions are securely operating as low-profit institutions indicative of its sound focus on serving its members, unlike banks whose goal is to maximize profit for enhancing its stocks. Accordingly, credit unions typically give higher dividends/ interest rates on the shares/ deposits of its members while also charging lower interest on their loans as compared to for-profit banks.
Credit unions also offer many similar financial services as do banks. This includes share/ savings accounts, share draft/ checking accounts, share term certificates/ certificates of deposit, credit cards, and home banking. However credit unions allow only their members to deposit money or borrow from the credit union, plus it is also tax-free.
It might seem that credit unions are systems totally independent and completely detached from the government. To point though, credit unions in the United States could work relatively as state trade affiliations allied with State ‘Credit Union Leagues’, or expansively as security service federal credit unions that are National trade associations united with the CUNA/ Credit Union National Association. Additionally, security service federal credit unions may as well become members of the NAFCU/ the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. This is in unison with the 1934 Federal Credit Union Act legislating a ‘dual chartering’ system that allows multiple US credit unions to incorporate under either a state law or as security service federal credit unions under the federal law.
Currently the US federal credit unions could apply to the NCUA/ National Credit Union Administration as LICU’s/ Low-Income Credit Unions giving them benefit programs to enhance its capacity in serving underserved populations better. These LICU’s have been insured 5+ billions by the NCUA and ,000+ billions by the FDIC – both federal-government agencies supporting credit unions and programs for the poor.