Credit Unions … A Quick History Lesson
Consolidating Credit Union Gains
As the distinctions blurred between the services that credit unions and other financial institutions could offer, credit unions worked on the national level to consolidate the gains made in the 1980s. In response, bankers renewed (and became more vocal about) their long-held objections to the tax-exempt status of credit unions.
In 1990, four North Carolina banks sued AT&T Family Federal Credit Union over field of membership and Select Employee Groups. Banks claimed the Federal Credit Union Act was being violated. This began a nationwide attack on credit unions by banks and banking industry associations.
In 1991, Operation Grassroots (the battle over regulatory consolidation) took place. Nearly 15,000 credit union people gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for the largest rally in credit union history. Over 70 Montanans participated, bringing the greatest number of Montana credit union people to Washington, DC, at one time. In 1996, credit unions mounted the Credit Union Campaing for Consumer Choice to fight banker attacks on credit unions nationwide.
For more information about other periods of credit union history, click on the links below
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