Purpose

• The main purpose for corporate credit unions is to provide consumer credit unions with banking and investment services, according to Debbie Matz, chairman of the National Credit Union Administration. Only depository financial institutions can process and clear checks and can process and settle electronic transactions, for example.
  
  

Benefit

• Another benefit of corporate credit unions is their ability to aggregate funds from consumer credit unions. This makes it possible for consumer credit unions to offer certain products and services that they might not be able to offer on their own.
  
  

History

• Before the formation of corporate credit unions in the 1970s, consumer credit unions had to rely on the banking industry to fill their voids. Nearly every state chartered corporate credit unions. Corporates gained the nickname the "credit union's credit union," according to the National Credit Union Administration.
  
  

Significance

• About 99 percent of consumer credit unions use corporate credit unions, according to the National Credit Union Administration. The corporate credit union system processes about five million transactions daily, as of 2010. Because consumer credit unions own corporate credit unions, consumer credit unions elect the board of directors. Just as in consumer credit unions, member votes decide the direction the corporate credit union takes.