Become a member

Membership is ownership. That is a legal fact about how credit unions are structured, not a marketing line.

Who is eligible

You qualify if you live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school in any of the counties in our field of membership. You also qualify if someone in your household or immediate family is already a member — which is the route most new members actually take.

Once you are in, you stay in. Move away, change jobs, retire — your membership is yours for life. This surprises people and it shouldn't; you bought a share.

What the five dollars is

Opening a regular savings account with five dollars makes you a part owner of the credit union. It is not a fee and it is not spent. It sits in your account, it is yours, and it is what entitles you to vote in board elections.

What you get that a bank doesn't offer

• A vote. One member, one vote, regardless of how much money you keep here. The chair of the board has exactly the same voting power as someone with eleven dollars in savings.
• Earnings that come back. There are no outside shareholders to pay, so a good year shows up as better rates and fewer fees.
• Shared branching. Thousands of credit union branches nationwide will serve you as if you were their own member.
• Decisions made by people you can reach. Lending decisions are made in our own building by staff who can explain them.

What you should know honestly

We are small. Our technology is good, not best-in-class — a large national bank will ship a slicker app than we will, and will have more ATMs with its own name on them. Our answer to the second one is the shared network and ATM fee rebates; we don't have an answer to the first one beyond the fact that a person picks up the phone.

If what you want most is the frictionless product of a very large institution, we would rather you know that now than find out in month three.

How joining works

• Answer an eligibility question or two.
• Show a government photo ID.
• Open a savings account with five dollars.

Come to any branch. Bring the ID.