Credit Union 1 is a credit union

Credit union

A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...

 based in Rantoul, Illinois

Rantoul, Illinois

Rantoul is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,674 at the 2010 census. The present mayor is Neal Williams, who was re-elected in 2009...

. Its service area spans the Chicago metropolitan area, the northern and central regions of Illinois, the Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 metropolitan area, and the Las Vegas metropolitan area

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

. CU1 serves 87,000 members throughout Illinois and Indiana, and roughly 15,000 members in Nevada.

Credit Union 1 is not federally insured, but insures its share deposits to $250,000 per account through American Share Insurance

American Share Insurance

American Share Insurance is a privately held deposit guaranty corporation that insures shares in some state chartered credit unions. ASI was established in 1974 as the National Guaranty Insurance Fund, changing its name to American Share Insurance in the early 1990s...

.

History

Credit Union 1 was established as Chanute Military Credit Union in 1958. The original base of membership was personnel and dependents of Chanute Air Force Base

Chanute Air Force Base

Chanute Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located south of and adjacent to Rantoul, Illinois, about south of Chicago. Its primary mission throughout its existence was Air Force technical training....

. After plans to close Chanute AFB, the credit union sought out ways to expand its membership base. Chanute MCU changed its name to Credit Union 1 in 1982. Fort Sheridan Credit Union was merged into Credit Union 1, extending the credit union's field of membership to the military reserve and National Guard units in Illinois.

The next expansion Credit Union 1 experienced was changing the field of membership from “occupational” to “associational”. This meant Credit Union 1’s field of membership was no longer restricted to its military affiliation. Since then, Credit Union 1 has continued to encompass more “select employee groups” (SEGs). The primary SEGs include the University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...

, Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America, Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a...

, and all State of Illinois employees.

In the summer of 1999 Credit Union 1 merged with Paysaver Credit Union of Lombard, Illinois

Lombard, Illinois

Lombard, "The Lilac Village", is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. The population was 42,322 at the 2000 census. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population in 2004 to be 42,975.-History:...

. Paysaver Credit Union was chartered in 1949 with International Harvester

International Harvester

International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...

 as its original sponsor. Since then, Paysaver had merged with other credit unions and provided credit union service to many SEGs to broaden their base. Primary SEGs for Paysaver included: Navistar, Tribune Companies

Tribune Company

The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...

, AON Corporation, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, and Cook County, Illinois

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 employees.

In 2009, Credit Union 1 acquired the assets and deposits of the Las Vegas based Cumorah Credit Union. Cumorah, which was founded in 1965, served Nevada members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.