1864
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen fathered the credit union idea to help impoverished farmers in Flammersfeld in western Germany who were ruined by drought and indebted to unscrupulous moneylenders. Raiffeisen helped organize over 200 credit cooperatives in Europe.
1900
Alphonse Desjardins, a Canadian parliamentary reporter, studied European credit societies and organized the first North American credit union in Levis, Quebec. It was called a "peoples bank" and began with an initial total membership deposit of $26. The first individual savings deposit was a dime.
1909
Pierre Jay, a Banking Commissioner of Massachusetts who studied Desjardin’s work, introduced a bill in Massachusetts to provide incorporation, recognition and legal standing for small savings and loan associations as financial institutions. Though Desjardin testified, his testimony as a foreign citizen carried little weight. The bill passed thanks to testimony from Edward Filene, a wealthy Boston merchant who saw credit societies operate in Calcutta, India. Desjardins organized the first U.S. credit union in a church parish, St. Mary’s Parish Bank.
1913
In response to a letter written to state governors by President Howard Taft, Wisconsin enacted credit union legislation.
1921
Filene established the Credit Union National Extension Bureau to seek enactment of credit union laws in all states, promote organization of new credit unions, encourage creation of state credit union organizations and prepare the way for a national association of credit unions. Filene appointed Roy Bergengren, a Massachusetts attorney, the Bureau’s executive secretary.
1923
Wisconsin’s first credit unions, Milwaukee Municipal and Milwaukee Federal credit unions, were organized.
1932
At a meeting in the old Wisconsin Hotel in Milwaukee, Bergengren formed a state committee on behalf of the National Credit Union Extension Bureau.
1934
On June 26, the Federal Credit Union Act was passed, making it possible to organize credit unions anywhere in America and its possessions. In August the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) was founded in Estes Park Colorado. On October 6, Bergengren’s committee, no longer under the authority of the Bureau, met in Madison. They organized the Wisconsin Credit Union League and elected its first officers, ratified the national constitution of CUNA, and elected two directors to represent Wisconsin on the first CUNA National Board.
1940s
Wisconsin credit unions reach $20 million in assets; 51,000 members.
1960s
Wisconsin credit unions reach $206 million in assets; 363,000 members.
1970s
Credit unions have $1 billion in assets. The Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) formed and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) formed to regulate the fund as well as federally-chartered credit union operations. Governor Patrick Lucey signed a bill in 1972 establishing the office of Commissioner of Credit Unions, now called the Office of Credit Unions, which regulates state-chartered credit union operation.
1980s
The move from a "smokestack" to "service" economy caused massive business failings. Because this threatened the solvency of many credit unions formed around a single employer, the NCUA allowed federally-chartered credit unions to add additional membership groups to their existing fields of membership. CUNA Credit Union Center opened in 1980 in Madison, housing 1,400 employees and 15 credit union organizations, including CUNA Mutual Insurance Group and the World Council of Credit Unions. Wisconsin credit unions surpassed $2 billion in assets.
1997
$3.6 billion in assets; 1.9 million members. A case involving field of membership expansion against a North Carolina Credit Union was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court’s decision, which claimed that the NCUA erred in the 1980s by allowing field of membership expansion for federally-chartered credit unions, put credit union membership in jeopardy for millions of members and potential members. Legislators introduced a bill in congress called H.R. 1151 (the Credit Union Membership Access Act), a bill aimed at overturning the court’s ruling and preserving people’s right to belong to a credit union by preserving rules on field-of-membership expansion.
1998
More than 70,000 Wisconsinites joined 3 million grassroots supporters of H.R. 1151 nationwide by petitioning, calling, writing or visiting legislators urging their support of the bill. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 411 to 8, passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 92 to 6, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 7.
2003
Governor Jim Doyle signed AB 2, the financial modernization bill, into law on October 22 allowing state-chartered credit unions to serve more Wisconsin consumers. New authorities granted by the law also make state-chartered credit unions more competitive by putting them more on par with federally-chartered credit unions. Credit unions can now serve multiple regions and counties, more easily open branch offices and offer more services. They can also receive “low-income designation,” which enables them to serve both members and non-members in areas where consumers may benefit from lower-cost services such as check cashing. Originated in the Assembly, AB 2 was amended and passed by the state Senate Sept. 30 by a vote of 24-9. The amended version passed the Assembly Oct. 1 by a vote of 65 to 32.
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