By Scott Simpson
On June 26, 1934, Franklin Roosevelt signed his name to the Federal Credit Union Act, and in doing so made a commitment to ordinary Americans: that safe, affordable financial services were not a privilege for the wealthy but a right for everyone. Ninety-two years later, that commitment is being tested.
Today, 146 million Americans are members of credit unions. They chose credit unions for the same reasons their grandparents and great-grandparents did: lower rates, fewer fees, and a financial institution that answers to them rather than to shareholders on Wall Street. Credit unions do not have investors to appease. They have members to serve. Every dollar of return gets reinvested into the people who made it.
That model has proven durable. Credit unions have served members through the Great Depression, World War II, the 2008 financial crisis, and a global pandemic. They contribute more than $352 billion annually to the U.S. economy, support 1.3 million jobs, and help finance homes, farms, and family businesses across every congressional district in the country. When a family finances a car through a credit union instead of a large auto lender, they save an average of nearly $10,000 over the life of the loan. That money stays in their pocket, and in their community.
For communities where banks have reduced their presence or exited entirely, credit unions are not an alternative. They are the only option. They serve rural communities, military families, and underserved populations at rates that for-profit institutions do not match. Military families make up more than half of all members in the nation's largest credit unions. These are not marginal facts. They are the operational reality of American financial life in 2026.
The numbers behind that reality are worth stating plainly. Credit unions currently support more than 2.5 million small businesses nationwide, providing the lending that local economies depend on when larger institutions have moved on to more profitable markets. The average credit union member saves hundreds of dollars each year in lower rates and reduced fees compared to customers at the nation's largest banks. For working families managing tight budgets, that is not a rounding error. It is the difference between financial stability and financial stress, and it compounds over time in ways that build the kind of economic resilience that communities and policymakers say they want to create.
Large Banks Control 75% Of All Depository Assets
And yet credit unions face sustained pressure, in Washington and in the marketplace. The largest 100 banks now control 75% of all depository assets, up from 41% in 1992. The community financial institutions that once served as a check on that concentration, credit unions and small banks alike, have seen their combined market share fall by more than half. The consolidation has not slowed. Policy choices in the years ahead will determine whether it accelerates further.
America's Credit Unions is not asking for special treatment. We are asking policymakers to understand what is at stake. When credit unions lose ground, real people lose access to affordable financial services, often with no alternative available to replace them. When families are priced out of homeownership or unable to start a business for lack of accessible credit, the distance between aspiration and opportunity grows wider. For communities that already have the fewest options, that gap can become permanent.
Ninety-two years ago, Congress and the President recognized that an accessible financial system required institutions designed to serve everyone. That recognition has not expired. The question before Washington today is whether it still holds.
Scott Simpson is President and CEO of America’s Credit Unions.