DURHAM, N.C. — For John Herrera, co-founder of the $34 million Latino Community Credit Union, the phrase "people helping people" describes not just a part of a credit union industry, but the heart of what makes credit unions something closer to a movement.

"When we began to try to organize Latino," Herrera described, "we met with bankers who were very well intentioned and very supportive but who kept on bumping up against the idea of the profit margin. They couldn't see a way to offer financial services to a population whose balances would likely start very small."

It took meeting the leaders of some of North Carolina's credit unions, men like Jim Blaine, CEO of the $13 billion State Employees Credit Union and Martin Eakes, CEO of the $237 million Self Help Credit Union, to start him thinking differently. They and other credit union executives helped Herrera understand that credit unions here held more in common with the cooperativas where his parents in Costa Rica had insisted he save a portion of all his money than they did with traditional banks.