The Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration approved Vermont State Employees CU’s request to serve anyone who lives or works in the state of Vermont.
This is the first statewide field of membership granted for a Vermont credit union.
When the field of membership includes anyone who lives or works in a state, is there really a common bond?
Isn't this credit union just a tax-exempt mutual bank?
Keith, thanks for the article recommendation from yesterday. I am currently a volunteer for a credit union, but I do that completely on my own time and tab. However, I do support the credit union's low credit card interest rate for example, so I guess I do get an in-kind reward of satisfaction from knowing our members are not being gouged by high rate cards or pummeled by unconscionable fees. The answer to your question is no, but FOM proposed or realized changes do make for lively conversation within the CU industry and obviously outside as well. I would note that without some of the FOM changes in the past, credit unions might not have survived the early 1990s severe recession--the worse since WWII before today--let alone the recent near financial collapse of our economic system.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you volunteering for these days?
Mr. Zimmerman:
ReplyDeleteYou asked me what am I volunteering for these days.
I just finished serving 8 years as a volunteer on the Board of Advisors to my alma mater, Mars Hill College.
To answer your final question:
ReplyDeleteNope, it's a credit union.
If credit unions were indeed tax-exempt mutual banks as you suggest, wouldn't mutuals be lined up at the NCUA to convert to a credit union charter? Certainly there's a CFO of at least one mutual who could figure out this supposed loophole. The fact that the flow of conversions is from cu to bank rather than bank to cu proves that the answer to your question is "no".
ReplyDelete