Authors: Robinson, F. Ceretha, and Gilson, Anne
Summary
When the credit union movement emerged in the United States in the early 1900s, the intent of the original organizers was to improve the lives of the working poor by providing them with the consumer credit they lacked and by promoting thrift. By mid-century, most of the 16,000 credit unions in the country served specific employee or other close-knit groups. A few were organized primarily for the benefit of low-income people. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) began demonstration projects to establish credit unions specifically for the poor. CUNA officials later spearheaded a collaboration with the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to establish a large number of “anti-poverty” credit unions.
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