At the National Level

Service

National service providers support the statewide service providers and offer other products and services that, due to economies of scale, can’t be offered at the state level. Many of the state-level organizations find their counterpart at the national level.

• The CREDIT UNION NATIONAL ASSOCIATION is the trade association for member leagues and credit unions. If a credit union is a member of their state credit union league, they also belong to CUNA. Staff at CUNA research credit union and economic trends, provide national publicity and public relations, coordinate national advocacy and lobbying efforts, and much more.
   
• The NATIONAL CREDIT UNION FOUNDATION is the charitable arm of the US credit union movement. NCUF raises funds to offer grants that support credit union efforts to provide financial education and reach out to those of modest means. NCUF also sponsors and administers the Credit Union Development Education and the REAL Solutions programs.
   
• CULAC or the CREDIT UNION LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE is CUNA’s national political action committee. Montana contributes to CULAC to support federal candidates who are friendly to credit union issues.
   
• CUNA MUTUAL GROUP provides a wide variety of insurance products to credit unions. And, echoing the cooperative nature of credit unions, a number of networks – like CO-OP Financial Services, which is endorsed by the Network – offer shared branching and ATMs.
   
• US CENTRAL CORPORATE CREDIT UNION is the primary credit union for all the state and regional corporate credit unions, like Treasure State Corporate in Montana. US Central offers many services that are integral to day-to-day operations at your credit union.

Regulation

The regulatory agency for all federally chartered credit unions in the U.S. is the NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ASSOCIATION. A federal government agency, NCUA is governed by a three-person board and is responsible for making sure credit unions (and the credit union system) remain operationally sound. NCUA is also the main regulatory authority for all corporate credit unions.

The NCUA administers the NATIONAL CREDIT UNION SHARE INSURANCE FUND (NCUSIF), which is the fund that insures all share deposits in credit unions. Federally insured credit unions are required to deposit 1% of their assets in the NCUSIF to provide the money for the fund.

Fun Facts

• ALL of Montana’s credit unions are members of the League and Corporate credit union. This illustrates the importance that Montana’s credit unions are well aware of the importance of pooling their resources. Only five other states — Alaska, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, and South Carolina — have 100% affiliation.
• Montana credit unions raised more than $32,000 to support credit union advocacy by selling tickets for the CUAC Raffle in 2010.