A main challenge to credit unions, especially small organizations, is lack of branches - it's hard for a small one- or two-office institution to compete in convenience with some of the banking giants that have branches on multiple street corners.
But credit unions have found a way to overcome the challenge - they are networking - in some cases locally or regionally and in at least one case, from coast to coast. Three regional networks joined forces to connect their own state and regional operations into a national branch-sharing network called Credit Union Service Centers. As a result, more than 800 federally insured credit unions (out of the nation's 9,800) are "sharing" their members. In other words, a member of one credit union can walk into the branch of another credit union or one of hundreds of independent, free-standing service centers and deposit a check, cash a check, make a loan payment, transfer money or receive services such as purchase money orders or travelers checks.
The credit unions have strict rules about "stealing" members from each other, and those that disregard the rules can be heavily fined or thrown out of the network. Different credit unions have different fee structures, but most don't charge the depositor themselves for use of the network, but rather the credit union involved. The free-standing service centers are not affiliated with any one particular credit union, but rather are staffed by the network itself. In addition, the service center network has a user-friendly web site locator that shows members the service center locations within 25 miles of their homes. To see that site, go to www.cuservicecenter.com.
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