What should my company look for when selecting a credit union for employees?

A group of people who share the same employer can be eligible to belong to a credit union. This is called a Select Employee Group (SEG). At one time, credit unions were limited by regulatory interpretation to a single employee group. To protect credit union members from the potential pitfalls that reliance on single employee groups could foster, regulations now permit credit unions to accept multiple SEGs into their membership. In addition, a company can create, or charter, its own credit union. Keep in mind, though, that chartering a credit union means forming a financial institution. It demands time, resolve and commitment from its organizers.

To find a credit union for your business, contact the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) at 1-800-356-8010 or www.cuna.org for the state credit union league contact number in your state. You can find a list of individuals in each of the 50 states that can help you with organizing a credit union. The league representative will identify credit unions that are interested in serving sponsoring groups similar to yours.

You can then contact these credit unions and ask them to make a formal presentation on how they would serve your employees. Most are eager to make this type of presentation.

In addition, you may wish to survey your employees, in advance, to determine their financial service needs and desires, so that you can ask the credit union representatives about specific services, and they can address your employees' particular concerns. Questions that you may want each prospective credit union to address include:

• Can the credit union deliver the services employees want and need, including, if necessary, developing new services?

• Are the credit union office(s) and/or Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) convenient for employees? Is the credit union willing to offer more convenient choices?

• Does the credit union offer online and other electronic Web-based services?

• Is the credit union willing to accept employees' input by setting up an advisory committee or using other input mechanisms?

After you choose a credit union to serve the employees of your organization, the credit union will secure regulatory approval to add your employees to its field of membership and initiate a program to sign up new members at your business.