As relaxed regulations spur credit union memberships, banks cry foul
Ayla Hurley, Sterling Huber, and Matt Lindsay are all members of Navy Federal Credit Union. - Nancy Marshall-Genzer/Marketplace
Credit unions are only supposed to serve certain communities, but the federal government has made membership restrictions a lot looser than they used to be, and that’s helped credit union membership shoot up by almost 60 percent over the past 20 years.
Banks are crying foul. The two sides have fought about this on Capitol Hill and in U.S. District Court. Soon, they’ll meet in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
You can get a sense of how easy it is to join a credit union these days through three people Marketplace met up with at a cafe in College Park, Maryland.
Ayla Hurley joined the Navy Federal Credit Union about five years ago. Hurley works in information technology. She’s not in the Navy. But her roommate had family in the military and belonged to Navy Federal. And if you’re living with a member, you can join, too.
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