Search Results
Journal Article
Credit unions and the common bond
A distinguishing feature of credit unions is the legal requirement that members share a common bond. This organizing principle recently became the focus of national attention when the Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress took opposite sides in a controversy regarding the number of common bonds (fields of membership) that could coexist within a single credit union. In this article, Emmons and Schmid develop and simulate a model of credit-union formation and consolidation to examine the effects of common-bond restrictions on the performance of credit unions. The performance measures are ...
Working Paper
Conflict of interest between borrowers and lenders in credit co- operatives: the case of German co-operative banks
Over the last few decades, the co-operative banking sector in Germany has steadily increased its market share at the expense of other types of banks. This outcome is surprising from the standpoint of traditional economic thinking about co-operatives, which suggests that they are most appropriate for "backward" economies. We develop a model of co-operative banks that highlights the dual role ofmembers as borrowers and lenders. We show that a shift in the median (hence pivotal) member of the co-operative from predominantly a borrower orientation toward a lender orientation causes the ...
Journal Article
Changes in the depository industry in Tenth District states
Recent development in Congress and the courts have focused attention on the relative roles of commercial banks, thrifts, and credit unions. As concern mounted last year about the state of the thrift deposit insurance fund, Congress required commercial banks to share the burden of recapitalizing the fund. In return, Congress promised to come up with a plan for merging the bank and thrift charters, a move the banking industry has long favored. About the same time, a federal appeals court ruled against a major source of credit union growth since the early 1980s - the acceptance of new members ...
Journal Article
Credit Unions’ Expanding Footprint, Is there any evidence new rules could cause small banks to lose market share to credit unions?
One of the main banking stories of the past 25 years has been the dramatic growth of large banks. Less well known is that credit unions have been expanding their market share during this time, too, especially after membership criteria were relaxed in 1998. While credit unions have been increasing their market share, small banks? market share has declined. And now, legal changes that took effect in January 2017 expanded credit unions? capacity to make loans to commercial customers, raising further concern among small banks that they might lose ground to credit unions
Working Paper
From cashing checks to building assets: a case study of the check cashing/credit union hybrid service model
This case study examines the pilot effort of Community Trust Prospera (CT Prospera), a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, to combine the accessible services of a check-casher with the longer-term depository and lending relationship opportunities of a mainstream financial institution. CT Prospera is based upon the ?micro branch? business model, which centers around a retail branch that has a small physical footprint, similar to a check cashing outlet, and is designed to create an inviting, safe, and accessible environment for clients who may not feel comfortable entering a traditional ...
Working Paper
Banks vs. credit unions; dynamic competition in local markets
One interesting aspect of the financial services industry is that for-profit institutions such as commercial banks compete directly with not-for-profit financial intermediaries such as credit unions. In this article, we analyze competition among banks and between banks and credit unions using a dynamic model of spatial competition. The model allows for the co-existence of (for-profit) banks and (not-for-profit) credit unions. Using annual county-level data on banking market concentration and credit-union participation rates for the period 1989-96, we find empirical evidence of two-way ...
Journal Article
Credit union mergers: efficiencies and benefits
Mergers tend to improve credit union cost efficiency. When the acquirer is much larger than the target credit union, target members benefit in terms of lower loan rates and higher deposit rates, while acquirer members see little change. When merger partners are more equal in size, these benefits are shared more evenly. Over time, credit union mergers have shifted from, on average, only benefiting targets to also benefiting acquirers to some extent.
Journal Article
Growing pains
Journal Article
Credit union issues
In February 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court partially settled a long-running controversy about the concept and extent of common bond limits on credit union membership, interpreting the Federal Credit Union Act as limiting membership to individuals sharing a single common bond. The ensuing debate has extended, quite naturally, to credit union tax status. Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have overwhelmingly passed and the President has signed a bill that would substantially annul the Supreme Court decision. ; This article attempts to provide a basis for thinking about current ...