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One Possible Reason for Low Member Growth

Mike Welch's column in the March 10th issue is right ("Slowdown in Membership Growth Makes No Sense"). Credit unions should be doing more to bring in new members. One reason that has surfaced from time to time to explain why this hasn't happened is that joint owners on an account...

By Staff Writer | Updated on April 06, 2004

Mike Welch’s column in the March 10th issue is right (“Slowdown in Membership Growth Makes No Sense”). Credit unions should be doing more to bring in new members. One reason that has surfaced from time to time to explain why this hasn’t happened is that joint owners on an account think they are both members. Often times a member will open a checking or money market account or obtain loans with their spouse. That spouse believes they are a member too. The reason I know this to be fact is when members petition to run for our board of directors. Only the signatures of members are official. We always tell them to get 25% more than the number needed as most joint owners will sign the petition. The signature and the account numbers have to pass the membership test when the audit firm certifies the petition. (By the way fewer and fewer consumers want to sign ANY petition of any kind now due to privacy issues.) Another issue you might want to look into in the future is credit union fraud. Or is it only a California phenomena? Judy McCartney President /CEO Orange County’s CU Santa Ana, Calif.

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