What is a Credit Union? -
Credit Unions are not for profit financial institutions that originated in Germany in the mid-1800s. A group of farmers, who found they could not borrow from their bank, combined their money to buy supplies. This created a common pool of money for townspeople to borrow from, where loans were readily available and rates were lower than the banks.

Similarly, today's credit unions are member owned and operated. Credit Unions are not for profit, so excess earnings are returned to the members in the form of high yields on savings and investment accounts, lower rates on loans, and low or no cost products and services.