The Carolinas Credit Union League board of directors unanimously decided Thursday to allow its 149 credit unions to join the league without requiring them to join CUNA.

“The board decision to offer membership choice recognizes that we are a membership organization and that our member credit unions throughout the Carolinas told us definitively that they want choice,” the Carolinas league said in a statement. “We do not view our relationship with CUNA any differently. CUNA and its team play a vital role in ensuring we can provide the support that credit unions in the Carolinas need and expect. In turn, CUNA relies on the local connectivity of leagues and credit unions as it advocates on Capitol Hill.”

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John Radebaugh, president/CEO of the Carolinas league, said the Carolinas league and CUNA are interdependent and he and the board strongly encourage credit unions to affiliate with both associations in 2016.

According to CUNA's national survey that questioned credit unions about dual membership versus membership choice earlier this year, 68% of credit unions in North Carolina and South Carolina said they favored membership choice over the current dual membership requirement.

Radebaugh sent an email to all credit unions in both states for their feedback about the dual membership issue and received a large response.

“I wanted to hear what credit unions had to say other than just a survey,” he said. “When people do a survey on whether you want choice or not, people are going to suggest choice. But I wanted to hear why, and we received a lot of that data, so the board could read through that on what the credit unions wanted.”

Radebaugh said the comments confirmed member credit unions favored membership choice.

“The option to choose what organization you affiliate with, in my mind and from a credit union perspective, is the ability to hold each organization accountable separately instead of jointly and that is kind of what I heard from a lot of our credit unions,” he said. “They want to be able to hold the league accountable individually and they want to be able to hold CUNA accountable individually. I think in the long run that will make us all stronger.”

On Sept. 18, the CUNA board voted to maintain the longstanding dual membership requirement despite a final recommendation by the CUNA System Structure and Governance Task Force to offer credit unions membership choice in CUNA and/or a league.

Radebaugh said he informed CUNA about the board's decision.

“CUNA and the leagues are local and national credit union advocates for removing barriers, creating awareness and fostering service excellence for credit unions,” CUNA Senior Media Relations Manager Vicki Christner said. “A unified CUNA/league system is the best advocate for credit unions to mobilize our movement to achieve these goals. It continually demonstrates an unmatched record of advocacy on behalf of credit unions.”

Last week, the Ohio Credit Union League board of directors decided to allow its 311 credit unions to join the league without requiring them to join CUNA.

On Oct. 16, the board of directors for the League of Southeastern Credit Unions became the second trade association to approve membership choice for its credit unions in Florida and Alabama. And in September, the Michigan Credit Union League became the first trade association in the nation to allow its credit unions to join the league without joining CUNA.

These leagues also said they strongly recommend credit union members maintain their CUNA membership next year.

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