The Big List of Credit Unions Anyone Can Join

I thought it would be useful to have a list of all credit unions in which anyone can join. For most of these all-access credit unions, you can join an association and that will qualify you for membership into the credit union. All credit unions are required to have a field of membership which defines a common bond for members. When credit unions started, common bonds typically involved employers. This expanded to include community bonds in which anyone who lives or works in an area can qualify. Now many credit unions have fields of membership that include members of associations, and those associations can often be joined by anyone.

As you might expect, banks consider this as unfair competition since credit unions receive tax breaks. This 2010 New York Times article reported on this issue and the history of how large credit unions like PenFed evolved into an open membership. I'm more concerned with the massive size of the mega banks than I am with credit unions being unfair to the banks. The more competition we have, the more it helps savers, and as we all know, savers need all the help they can get in this awful interest rate environment.

The main reason to join a credit union that's not in your city is to take advantage of competitive banking products. Most of the all-access credit unions that I've reported on have offered competitive CD rates or reward checking accounts. Often the rates are better than what internet banks offer.

Like internet banks, many of these credit unions have online applications that make it easy to join. Also, the credit unions' online banking can make managing accounts easy without having to visit a branch. If you do need to visit a branch, many belong to the shared branch network. This allows you to conduct many banking transactions at any credit union in the network as if it were your own credit union.

Overview of the All-Access Credit Union List

The list is now updated daily. By default, the list is ordered based on asset size. Click the column title "Credit Unions" to order alphabetically or "Branches" to order based on the number of branches.

Click on the name of the credit union to visit our hub page for that credit union. The hub page lists all of my blog posts for that credit union. It also includes the credit union rate tables, financial health, branch locations and readers' reviews.

Under the credit union name is the city of its headquarters. Many of the credit unions have branches in multiple states. Click on the number of branches to see a map and listing of the branches.

Updated Daily:

Don't See a Credit Union on the List?

Credit unions are constantly changing their fields of membership (FOMs). If you don't see a credit union on the list that makes it easy for anyone to qualify for membership, please let us know. The best way is by posting this news about the credit union in our bank promotions forum.

It is also possible that credit unions will make changes to their FOMs that will eliminate ways for everyone to qualify. I've seen several cases in which credit unions added state-residency requirements to association membership requirements. Also, I've seen cases in which credit unions have removed associations from their FOMs. If you see that a credit union on this list has added restrictions on new members, please let us know.

It should also be noted that some all-access credit unions may not allow all members to open certain accounts. Some accounts like IRAs and business accounts may require a branch visit. Also, there may be some popular account that is limited to certain members.