• About
• myBudget
• FAQ
• Forum
• Info
• Login/Register

Membership restrictions

U.S. governmental regulatory agencies require that credit unions restrict their membership to defined segments of the population, such as people who live, work, worship, or attend school in a well-defined geographic area; employees of specific companies or trades; members of specific non-profit groups (alumni associations, conservation or other advocacy organizations, lodges, churches, or the like); or a particular occupational group (teachers, doctors, etc.) In the U.S., this is referred to as a credit union's "field of membership." Internationally it is referred to as the 'common bond' or 'bond of association'.

Mergers of smaller credit unions with disparate membership bases often result in a credit union with a wide variety of ways to qualify to join; thus, a credit union may have a much broader "field of membership" than that credit union's name would imply.

Credit unions generally follow the principle of "once a member, always a member," which allows current credit union membership to continue even if the individual would no longer qualify to be a member (such as having changed professions or moved outside the area). However, many credit unions reserve the right of expulsion against a member who causes a financial loss. Some credit unions also have expelled members, including elected Board and Supervisory Committee volunteers, for making "whistleblower" complaints against credit union management.

If a member voluntarily terminates their membership, they may or may not be eligible to rejoin, depending on the credit union's policies and government regulations.

Credit unions may be chartered to serve a specific employee group (often called a Select Employee Group or SEG), but may, for example in the USA, be allowed to change their charter to a "Community Charter". Such a charter allows them to not only serve the original employee group, but anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school within a geographical field of membership. This can even be further extended to members' families or persons of close relation. In the US, this field of membership can then be expanded with the approval of the National Credit Union Administration or state regulator, and similar options are available in some other countries.