Credit unions as such provide service only to individual consumers. Corporate credit unions (also known as central credit unions in Canada) provide service to credit unions, with operational support, funds clearing tasks, and product and service delivery.
Mr Duncan Smith resigned as work and pensions secretary in March this year, citing pressure to "salami-slice" welfare. In his resignation letter, he said: "There had been too much emphasis on money saving exercises and not enough awareness from the Treasury, in particular, that the government's vision of a new welfare-to-work system could not be repeatedly salami-sliced." The government said more than 450,000 people had made a claim for Universal Credit so far, with more than 9,500 new claims made every week. Mr Crabb told the Today programme there had been changes to the scheme since it was launched in 2010, but said measures such as an increased tax allowance and the National Living Wage had "transformed the landscape" and would "override" the losses outlined by the Resolution Foundation. Mr Crabb said the latest expansion marked an "important milestone". He added: "Universal Credit is transforming welfare and is central to our vision for our society where people of all backgrounds can earn a decent wage and provide for their families, with claimants moving into work faster and earning more than under the old system. "Our focus now is on continuing its expansion to all claimants." Labour's shadow welfare secretary Owen Smith said cuts to Universal Credit had "fatally undermined" incentives to work. "The Tories should stop slapping themselves on the back for delivering cuts to working families right across the country and instead listen to Labour's calls for an urgent U-turn."
Credit unions often form cooperatives among themselves to provide services to members. A Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) is generally a for-profit subsidiary of one or more credit unions formed for this purpose. For example, CO-OP Financial Services, the largest credit union owned interbank network in the US, provides an ATM network and shared branching services to credit unions. Other examples of cooperatives among credit unions include credit counseling services as well as insurance and investment services.[citation needed] State credit union leagues can partner with outside organizations to promote initiatives for credit unions or customers. For example, the Indiana Credit Union League sponsors an initiative called "Ignite", which is used to encourage innovation in the credit union industry, with the Filene Research Institute. The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is both a trade association for credit unions worldwide and a development agency. The WOCCU's mission is to "assist its members and potential members to organize, expand, improve and integrate credit unions and related institutions as effective instruments for the economic and social development of all people". The Credit Union National Association, commonly known as CUNA, is a national trade association for both state- and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States. The National Credit Union Foundation is the primary charitable arm of the United States' credit union movement and an affiliate of CUNA.
In the United States, Federal credit unions are chartered by and overseen by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which also provides deposit insurance similar to the manner in which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides deposit insurance to banks. State-Chartered credit unions are overseen by the state's financial regulation agency and may, but are not required to, obtain deposit insurance. Because of problems with bank failures in the past, no state provides deposit insurance and as such there are two primary sources for depository insurance – the NCUA and American Share Insurance (ASI), a private insurer based in Ohio.
Within Quebec there are 344 caisses that are formally federated with the Caisses Populaires Desjardins as of September 30, 2014.[5] In 2012, Desjardins served nearly 5.6 million members from 897 locations, with $196.7 billion in assets