Government credit unions of Louisiana are financial institutions that provide banking services to the members of that credit union. Louisiana federal credit union members control the credit union and membership must be based on well-defined criteria such as residency within a geographical area or membership in a non-profit group.

Federally chartered credit unions in Louisiana also may serve specific employee groups, known as Select Employee Groups, such as teachers or employees of a specific company. These government chartered credit unions in Louisiana may be able to switch to a community charter, which allows them to serve anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school within a defined area.

There are three basic reasons why government credit unions of Louisiana are tax exempt:

1. A government credit unions in Louisiana must be a non-profit, democratic corporation the members own.

2. Members must elect the board of directors for a credit union and the board must serve as unpaid volunteers.

3. An LA federal credit union provides service to members of modest means as part of their social mission. It also must place limitations on its memberships with restrictions on the products and services it provides.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Locate specific government credit unions in Louisiana by name

You can easily locate federal credit unions in Louisiana if you have some basic information about it such as its name or the location of one of its branches. A credit union's name will normally give you an idea of the basis of its membership, although the requirements for membership are frequently broader than this.

I recommend: Cudata.com shows credit unions in Louisiana by name, along with the city, assets and number of members. Click on any credit union name to get contact information. The Credit Union Service Center provides detailed information on all of its registered credit unions within Louisiana.

Find government chartered credit unions in Louisiana by location

Resources are available to locate all of the credit unions based in your area, which you may wish to do because residency is a common membership requirement for many credit unions.

I recommend: The Credit Union National Association has the ability to locate credit unions within a specified radius of a zip code or by city and state. CU Village.com allows you to find credit unions within your zip code. If you don't find any, this locator will show the credit unions that are closest to you.

Join a local federal credit union in Louisiana

Examine the membership requirements of a particular federally chartered credit union and the services that it provides to know if you are eligible to join and if it will provide the services you need.

I recommend: Bayou Federal Credit Union is in Baton Rouge and has more than 300 employee groups. Pelican State Credit Union has a diverse list of Select Employer Groups and owns a charter in a number of zip codes in the Baton Rouge area.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Most Louisiana federal credit unions serve individuals and may be called natural-person credit unions. However, there are corporate credit unions that serve natural-person credit unions. Corporate credit unions serve as a clearing house for natural-person credit unions and provide them with operational support, products and other services.
• •  Louisiana federal credit unions may actually have a more disparate membership base than the one implied by its name. This may be the result of a merger of several smaller credit unions. Additionally, individuals may generally remain a member of a credit union even when they would normally no longer qualify.