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Q.
How can I sign myself or a family member up for membership?
A. You or a member of your family can either
apply right on our website under Membership Application or we will be
happy to mail a membership application if the request is sent to our Financial
Services center.
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Q. Who
may join a credit union?
A. Every credit union serves a specific
field of membership as defined by its charter. Anyone who falls within
the common bond of the credit union may join and share in its ownership.
A common bond can be defined as the employees of a company, members of
a civic or church group, residents of a community or numerous groups together.
Generally, persons within a member's family, by blood or marriage, may
also join.
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Q. What
is a credit union?
A. A credit union is a not-for-profit financial
cooperative that is owned and operated by its members. Member savings
form a pool of money from which low-cost loans are made to other members.
Once overhead and other expenses are paid and reserves set aside, income
from loans is returned to members in the form of dividends on savings,
expansion of services, a larger cushion against loss, etc. After a credit
union has met its other goals, it may give any remaining surplus back
to the members as bonus dividends on savings or loan interest rebates.
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Q.
What is the purpose of a credit union?
A. The philosophy of the credit union
movement is Not for Profit, Not for Charity, But for Service. Credit unions
promote thrift and teach the wise use of credit. Credit unions encourage
their members to develop a systematic savings program and they provide
a source of low-cost credit. Because credit unions are not-for-profit
and have low overhead costs, they are usually able to offer lower interest
rates on loans and higher dividends on members' shares (savings). A credit
union is also nonprofit in the sense that its purpose is to serve the
members, not to make money. It needs money to provide services and benefits.
But money is the means, not the end itself.
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Q. How
are credit unions operated?
A. Credit unions are democratically
controlled by their members. The members, themselves, elect a board of
directors from among the membership, which is responsible for setting
policy. Day-to-day operations are handled by paid professionals, or in
the case of a small sized credit union, by volunteers.
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Q. Who
governs credit unions?
A. A credit union receives its authority
to operate by obtaining a federal or state charter. Federally chartered
credit unions follow the regulations set by the Federal Credit Union Act,
and state chartered credit unions follow those under the State Credit
Union Act. Annual examinations and oversight is conducted by the supervisory
agencies-the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for the federal
credit.
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Q. Are
savings insured?
A. Member savings accounts at all
Pennsylvania credit unions are federally insured up to $100,000 by NCUA's
share insurance fund. This fund is backed by the full faith and credit
of the government. No taxpayer funds are used to support the NCUA or the
credit union insurance fund.
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Q. How
many credit unions are there?
A. In Pennsylvania, there are 700
federal credit unions and 84 state chartered credit unions. Combined,
they hold more than $15 billion in assets and serve more than 3.2 million
members. In the United States, there are more than 10,800 credit unions
that hold $407 billion in assets and serve 74.6 million members. Credit
unions also operate in 88 countries worldwide, providing affordable financial
services to 100.8 million members.
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Q. How
did the credit union idea originate?
A. 1849 is generally accepted as the
year that the first credit union was organized. Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen,
mayor of a small German town whose inhabitants had suffered heavy financial
losses due to a crop failure and a depression, conceived the idea. He
believed that by pooling small sums of money, a fund could be established
from which loans could be made at a low rate of interest. Now, as then,
credit unions offer small loans that other financial institutions would
consider too small for processing.
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Q. When
were credit unions first organized in the United States?
A. The first U.S. credit union was
formed in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1909. This was accomplished with
the help of Alphonse Desjardins, a Canadian journalist, who had introduced
the idea to Canada in 1901.
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Q. Can
I reorder checks through this website?
A. Yes, If you need to reorder checks you can
log on to Online Direct,
select the maintenance button, then select check re-orders. This will link
you to Liberty Checking Company. Simply follow the instructions.
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