Donate $5 and You Can Join This CU

Connexus Credit Union (Wassau, WI) is another credit union using an association to qualify anyone for credit union membership.

In this case, the association, the Connexus Association, appears to be an extension of the credit union.

A one-time $5 donation to the Connexus Association allows a person to join the credit union. A five-dollar donation seems to be an abuse of the common bond requirement.

On the credit union's website, it states:

"The Connexus Association was organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes to provide funding to designated organizations that qualify as exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service."

The credit union points out that the Connexus Association has provided over $150,000 in financial support to various organizations.

But outside of giving money to groups, this association does not appear to do anything else.

It seems to me that the primary purpose of this association is to be a conduit to qualify people for credit union membership, who otherwise would be ineligible to join the credit union.