A credit union is owned by the people who use it.
Credit unions have always been part of a large international movement. Here is where it came from, how it works, and what makes it different from a bank.
Global figures: World Council of Credit Unions Statistical Report, as at 31 December 2024. Great Britain figure: Bank of England credit union quarterly statistics, 2025 Q4. Bank of England figures cover England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland's credit unions are counted separately, and add well over half a million further members according to the Irish League of Credit Unions.
Different in size. Identical in principle.
Credit unions operating in Britain today are extremely varied in size, membership and the range of services they offer. Some serve a single workplace, others serve a whole city or, like Capital, anyone working in the UK. What they all share is a basic philosophy and set of principles held in common with the worldwide credit union movement.
Every member is an owner. Each holds a £1 share, and each gets one vote, no matter how much they have in savings.
Developed in the 19th century, still growing today.
The idea travelled a long way before it reached the UK. It began with 19th century social reformers, took hold across North America, spread through the Caribbean and Ireland, and only found a legal home in Britain in 1979.
The ideas take shape
The credit union model was built in 19th century Germany, by pioneers such as Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, who founded the first urban credit societies from 1849, and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, who took the idea to rural communities. Both drew on British co-operative thinking, including Robert Owen and the Rochdale Pioneers. The movement then grew quickly throughout America and Canada.
The movement reaches Jamaica
From North America the idea began to influence the rest of the world, notably across the Caribbean, where credit unions took hold in Jamaica during the 1940s.
And then Ireland
Credit unions took hold in Ireland during the late 1950s. It became one of the places British pioneers would later point to, having seen the idea work there for themselves.
A legal structure in the UK
Credit unions took longer to take off in England, Scotland and Wales, and there was no legal structure for them in the UK until 1979. People who had seen the idea work in Ireland, the Caribbean and North America were among the first British credit union pioneers.
Capital Credit Union is founded
We began in June 1989 as a community financial co-operative, created to give people a fairer place to save and borrow.
Two million members and counting
There are now more than 2.1 million credit union members across England, Scotland and Wales, including more than a quarter of a million in Scotland. Northern Ireland, counted separately, adds well over half a million more.
The difference is who owns it.
Both hold your money. Both are regulated. The difference is who the organisation exists for, and who gets a say in how it is run.
Customers and ownership
Credit unions
- Ethical financial co-operatives, owned by their members.
- Eligibility to become a member is unique to each credit union, its common bond, and is set out in its rules.
- Each member holds a £1 share in the credit union.
Banks
- Banks have customers rather than members.
- Customers may not be owners in the organisation.
- Owned by investors and shareholders, who may or may not be depositors with the bank.
Main purpose
Credit unions
- Not-for-profit organisations, existing primarily to serve the needs of their members and the communities in which they operate.
- Any surplus funds generated are paid back to the members as a dividend.
- Surplus also goes into loan rates and into new and improved services.
Banks
- In business primarily to generate profits for their investors and shareholders.
Control and governance
Credit unions
- Run by members, for members.
- Each credit union has a volunteer board of directors.
- Those directors are all members, elected by the membership to serve them.
- Each member has one vote, no matter how much they have in savings.
Banks
- Governed by paid directors.
- Neither directors nor shareholders need be customers of the bank, or based within the community it serves.
- Only investors and shareholders can vote. Bank customers have no vote.
This comparison describes the credit union model generally. Individual credit unions differ in size, in the services they offer, and in who is eligible to join. Details of how Capital Credit Union is governed, including our rulebook and annual accounts, are published on our about page.
One credit union, in a movement of thousands.
Capital Credit Union was founded in June 1989 and works on exactly the principles set out above. We are owned by our members, we answer to them rather than to shareholders, and every member has one vote at our annual general meeting regardless of the size of their savings.
Today we are one of the UK's largest credit unions, with over 36,000 members and £42 million in assets, all owned by the membership. Our common bond is employment-based, which means anyone working in the UK can join us.
Bank somewhere that answers to you.
Becoming a member takes minutes. You get a say in how we are run, and a share of what we are.
Membership eligibility criteria apply.