Conversion Resources

Our information library about credit union conversion.

• Comprehensive report on conversion by UC Berkeley Professor: Credit Union Conversions to Banks: Facts, Incentives, Issues and Reforms, by James A. Wilcox, Filene Institute, 2006. (1 mb .pdf file)
• Hilarious website comparing credit unions to banks: www.bankerspank.com (Actually funny!)
• Recent study showing credit unions that have converted offer worse rates: Credit Union to Mutual Conversion: Do Rates Diverge?, by Jeff Heinrich and Russ Kashian, University of Wisconsin Economics Department, 2006.
• Website and community blog of Lafayette Federal Credit Union member-owners, in opposition to the credit union's conversion proposal. In part due to this member opposition, the credit union withdrew the proposal in January 2007.
• DFCU Owners United, an organization of DFCU Federal Credit Union member-owners who successfully opposed their credit union's conversion proposal in 2005-6.
• Save CCU, an organization of Columbia Credit Union (WA) member-owners who successfully opposed their credit union’s conversion proposal in 2004. CCU withdrew its conversion proposal, and members who had led efforts to protect the credit union from conversion were elected the board of directors.
• Chart explaining the difference between the credit union and bank charters, by the National Center for Member Trust
• Here is a current comparison of credit union vs. bank rates in your state.
• Excellent, comprehensive report on credit union conversion: Protecting the Rights and Interests of Credit Union Members, by the American Association of Credit Union Leagues, August 2005.
• Brief summary of the conversion issue: Credit Unions, Conversions, and Capital, by James Wilcox, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2007.
• Summary of Professor Wilcox's proposal for a fair method of conversion.
• This study summarizes the Parliamentary Group's key concerns and findings about insider enrichment at the expense of the members and the public, in Britain's recent large scale movement of non-profit financial institutions to for-profit charters: Windfalls or Shortfalls? The True Cost of Demutualization, by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Building Societies and Financial Mutuals, 2006. (3 mb .pdf file)
• Michigan Credit Union League's website on conversion, including a comprehensive news archive.
• Utah League of Credit Unions' website on conversion.
• The primary credit union trade association's view on conversion: CUNA Principles Regarding Credit Union Conversions, by the Credit Union National Association.
• The National Center for Member Trust's Credit Union to Bank Conversion Principles.
• Funny video explaining the difference between credit unions and banks, by the spokesperson for Commonwealth Credit Union’s Young and Free campaign.