The credit union story begins in 1844 with a group of weavers in Rochdale, England. The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers sold shares to its members to raise the capital they needed to buy goods at lower than retail prices. They, in turn, sold the goods at a savings to their members. This makes them the first credit union.

In 1850, the credit union movement spread to Germany, in 1901 to Canada and in 1908 to the United States.  Massachusetts banking commissioner Pierre Jay and Boston merchant Edward Filene started the movement in America. They helped organize public hearings on credit union legislation in Massachusetts, passing the first state credit union act in 1909. But the movement was slow to catch on with fewer than 10 states passing credit union laws.

Filene then created the Credit Union National Extension Bureau in 1921, working to establish effective credit union laws at both state and federal levels. Using his own money, Filene hired attorney Roy F. Bergengren to support the Bureau’s efforts.

When Bergengren first started, there were only 199 credit unions in the United States. In just four years,  that number increased to 419 credit unions were serving 108,000 members. Ten years later that number soared to 3,372 credit unions serving 641,800 members.

By 1969, the United States credit union movement peaked at 23,876 credit unions. Since then, many smaller credit unions have merged into larger ones. While this has caused the number of credit unions to decline, membership continues to climb with nearly 90 million credit union members in America today.