ABILENETELCO.COM

The earliest credit unions were conceived in Europe during the 19th century as a natural part of the cooperative movement which was emerging at the time. The first known cooperative credit union organisation was formed in Rochdale, UK, in 1844. Known as the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, this group, formed from local workers, first pooled a pound from every member in order to open a cooperative store which sold sugar, butter, flour, candles and oatmeal... This then expanded into the concept of pooling the members' money so that credit could be offered to individual members. Officially, the first dedicated credit unions were established in 1949 in Germany with the ambition of protecting poor workers in urban areas from loan sharks.