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Membership restrictions
Governmental regulatory agencies require that credit unions restrict their
membership to defined segments of the population, such as people who live, work,
worship, or attend school in a well-defined geographic area; employees of
specific companies or trades; members of specific non-profit groups (alumni
associations, conservation or other advocacy organizations, lodges, churches, or
the like); or a particular occupational group (teachers, doctors, etc.) In the
U.S., this is referred to as a credit union's "field of membership."
Internationally it is referred to as the 'common bond' or 'bond of association'.
Mergers of smaller credit unions with disparate membership bases often result in
a credit union with a wide variety of ways to qualify to join; thus, a credit
union may have a much broader field of membership than that credit union's name
would imply.
Credit unions generally follow the principle of "once a member, always a
member," which allows current credit union membership to continue even if the
individual would no longer qualify to be a member (such as changing professions
or moving outside the area). However, if the member closes his/her account, the
member may or may not be eligible to rejoin, depending on the credit union's
policies and government regulations.
Credit Unions may be chartered to serve a specific employee group, but are
allowed to change their charter to a "Community Charter". The new charter allows
them to not only serve the original employee group, but now anyone who lives,
works, worships, or attends school within a geographical field of membership.
This field of membership can then be expanded with the approval of the National
Credit Union Administration.
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