( a Jim Blaine classic post)
In the beginning ( no I was not there!); credit unions were created as cooperatives, which were to be owned and controlled by the members and managed in their best interests.
One member / one vote; a democratically elected Board; a common goal, a common purpose – the common good !
“We’re all in this together…”
But today, some Boards and CEOs have become “more creative” in how they view their relationship with and their responsibilities to those member-owners.
Kind of an “outside the box” sorta view….
See the problem?
The members have become “outsiders”….
and therein lies our greatest challenge for the future!
and therein lies our greatest challenge for the future!
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| A complete box set! |
Don’t box yourself in,
don’t box your members out!
don’t box your members out!
Members as Blaine explains so eloquently have become outsiders. Many Boards have closed elections as they feel members if elected democraticly are dumb and many times the Board members who appointed themselves can not get elected if the members vote in an open election. Many credit unions have wrapped themselves in providing financial services have left the poor out by not providing competitive savings rates. Today even with the tax advantage, many credit unions pay savings rates less than the banks thusly taking advantage of poor members.