Cooperation among Cooperatives: Quantifying the Business Case for Credit Unions and Other Cooperatives

Luis G. Dopico and Ben Rogers

This new report from the Filene Research Institute, with research support from the Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Cooperative Alliance Committee, quantifies the benefits that could arise from cooperation between non-financial cooperatives and credit unions. The study estimates that if non-financial cooperatives shifted half of their deposits from banks to credit unions over a ten-year period, the sector, which owns more than $75 billion in investible assets, could earn an additional $2.2 billion in interest payments and, in turn, assist smaller credit unions reach economies of scale. The authors offer several recommendations on how to improve collaboration, such as cross-promoting membership and locating credit union branches and ATMs in cooperatives, and they provide brief descriptions of successful collaborations from across the country. 

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