credit union

noun

Definition of credit union

: a cooperative association that makes small loans to its members at low interest rates and offers other banking services (such as savings and checking accounts)

Examples of credit union in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These loans allow people who have been credit union members for at least one month to borrow $200 to $1,000 with repayment terms of one to six months. — Tim Chen, Fortune, "Banks Should Lead the Way Out of the Payday Lending Trap," 6 June 2018 Some rural areas have post offices, but no bank or credit union branches, Pew found in its research. — Lorie Konish, USA TODAY, "Your local post office could become a payday lender if Postal Banking Act bill passes," 26 Apr. 2018 The credit union’s loan was secured by land that Trey West valued at $6 million. — Zeke Maccormack, San Antonio Express-News, "Flying L again set for foreclosure auction," 23 Jan. 2018 Private student or parent loans Private loans are nonfederal loans made by a lender such as a bank, credit union, state agency or school. — Cheryl Winokur Munk, WSJ, "The Pros and Cons of Federal vs. Private Student Loans," 1 Nov. 2018 The victim then contacted her credit union, learning from a representative there that her card had been declined at a Vons in La Crescenta and at an unspecified Ralphs. — latimes.com, "Crime Report: Woman’s car stolen from YMCA lot, then returned to a nearby parking space," 4 July 2018 Homestead's credit union branch Two Homestead High School students were hired to run a branch of Kohler Credit Union (KCU), which includes an ATM, that opened in the school in January. — Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Area schools using creative approaches to teach personal finance to students," 18 Apr. 2018 These are learning environments that closely simulate various industries and professional settings, and include an app development lab, a credit union, a digital film studio and even a courtroom. — John Hanc, New York Times, "Building Skills Outside the Classroom With New Ways of Learning," 5 Apr. 2018 America's largest credit union just announced a bunch of tweaks to its Visa Signature Flagship Rewards Credit Card that put it on par with some of the best travel credit cards out there today. — Ryan Craggs, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Revamped Navy Federal Credit Card Is a Perfect Fit for All Travelers," 27 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'credit union.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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12 Jan 2019

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The first known use of credit union was in 1843

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More Definitions for credit union

credit union

noun

Financial Definition of credit union

What It Is

A credit union is a financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members rather than shareholders. The members of the credit union pool their deposits and provide loans and other financial services to each other.

How It Works

The services offered by a credit union include a wide range of financial services, such as savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, certificates of deposit and online financial services.

A credit union’s fees, interest rates and levels of service are highly responsive to the needs of its members. Generally, they offer lower interest rates on loans and higher interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit.

Credit unions may be formed among any group of members who have a common interest -- usually community groups or employees of a particular organization. The board members of the credit unions are usually volunteers. Credit unions are generally not-for-profit, so often profits are shared by members.

Why It Matters

Credit unions offer most of the same services as banks, but differ in that individual members are owners and there are generally less assets under management. Because credit unions are usually considerably smaller than banks, they are able to offer more personalized advisory services to their members and they may offer lower cost banking service.

Federal and most state-chartered credit unions in the United States are able to insure their members’ savings accounts through the National Credit Union Administration, a federal organization with the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Source: Investing Answers

credit union

noun

English Language Learners Definition of credit union

: an organization that gives small loans to its members at low interest rates and that offers savings and checking accounts

See the full definition for credit union in the English Language Learners Dictionary

credit union

noun

Legal Definition of credit union

: a cooperative association that makes small loans to its members at low interest rates and offers other banking services (as savings and checking accounts)