Field of Membership
Legally, and for tax purposes, credit unions are considered to be non-profits. Banks assert that since this status exempts credit unions from many federal and state taxes, credit unions can provide more competitive products. This has led to a variety of laws which limit how credit unions may accept members. Historically, this meant credit unions were left with the individuals which banks found to be less desirable or those in a limited geographic area. More recently, credit unions have been able to broaden their eligibility requirements to accept more members.
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Famous quotes containing the words field of, field and/or membership:
“Mothers seem to be in subtle competition with teachers. There is always an underlying fear that teachers will do a better job than they have done with their child.... But mostly mothers feel that their areas of competence are very much similar to those of the teacher. In fact they feel they know their child better than anyone else and that the teacher doesn’t possess any special field of authority or expertise.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“An enormously vast field lies between “God exists” and “there is no God.” The truly wise man traverses it with great difficulty. A Russian knows one or the other of these two extremes, but is not interested in the middle ground. He usually knows nothing, or very little.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)