Credit Union National Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Credit Union National Association (more popularly known as CUNA) is a trade association for credit unions in the United States. The organization maintains a headquarters office in Washington, D.C., however the majority of CUNA activities are handled from its operations center in Madison, Wisconsin. The name CUNA (pronounced "Cue-Nuh") is owned by the trade association.
CUNA employs approximately 250 people in its Washington, D.C. office as well as several hundred people in its Madison campus. Prior to the expansion of CUNA's Washington office from its lobbying offices in to its headquarters in the 1990s, CUNA's headquarters had been located in Madison since its inception in the 1930s. The Madison campus is also the home of the headquarters of CUNA Mutual Group, the World Council of Credit Unions, and the National Credit Union Foundation.
CUNA provides member credit unions with trade association services, including lobbying, professional development and professional services management. Credit unions must first be a member of its local state credit union leagues before they qualify for CUNA benefits. CUNA is supported through dues (paid by credit unions via their local league dues) and fees generated from the services provided. CUNA operates a for-profit "CUNA Services Corp.", however many of the pass through services (credit card processing, IRA administration) have been sold to other vendors.
CUNA is related to, but not to be confused with the CUNA Mutual Group, or with CUNA Credit Union (now Great Wisconsin Credit Union) and the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF). CUNA Mutual was the result of a split within CUNA in the 1950s that spun off the insurance business started by CUNA at its inception. Great Wisconsin Credit Union was created to serve the trade association, and like many other credit unions, expanded its "field of membership" to include the local area; the credit union also provides some services to state leagues such as credit card services. Great Wisconsin Credit Union is the third largest credit union in Madison, and the eleventh largest in the state. The National Credit Union Foundation is the charitable arm of CUNA and its mission is "to promote and improve consumer financial independence through credit unions."
CUNA helped institute the .coop Internet domain in the early 2000s.
CUNA's president is Daniel Mica, a former legislator representing the state of Florida. Mica, whose retirement is expected at the end of his current contract, succeeded Ralph Swoboda in the mid 1990s.
[edit] External links
- CUNA: http://www.cuna.coop or http://www.cuna.org
- CUNA Mutual Group: http://www.cunamutual.com
- Great Wisconsin Credit Union (formerly CUNA Credit Union): https://www.greatwisconsincu.org/GreatWisconsinCU.asp
- National Credit Union Foundation: http://www.ncuf.coop