A Mississippi federal credit union is a financial institution that provides banking services to its membership. Members of MS federal credit unions control the credit union and membership is based on well-defined criteria such as residency within a geographical area or membership in a non-profit group.

Federally chartered credit unions in Mississippi also may serve specific employee groups, known as Select Employee Groups, such as teachers or employees of a specific company. Federal credit unions in Mississippi 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.

A bank may appear to be indistinguishable from a credit union. MS credit unions are tax exempt, however, while banks are not. There are three basic reasons why this is so:

1. Government credit unions in Mississippi must be a non-profit, democratic corporation the members own.

2. Members must elect the board of directors of federal credit unions in Mississippi and the board must serve as unpaid volunteers.

3. Mississippi federally chartered credit unions provide services to members of modest means as part of their social mission. They also must place limitations on their memberships with restrictions on the products and services they provide.

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

Locate specific government credit unions in Mississippi by name

You can easily locate a credit union 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: The National Credit Union Administration can locate a credit union by charter number and can find a credit union by using a word in the credit union's name. Manta displays federally chartered credit unions in Mississippi alphabetically by name and allows the list to be further narrowed by city.

Find Mississippi federal credit unions 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 streets. Credit Union Access provides, by city, all of registered federally chartered credit unions in Mississippi.

Join one of the Mississippi federally chartered credit unions for which you qualify

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: Jackson Area Federal Credit Union offers memberships to residents of Hind County and has an extensive group of businesses within its field of membership. Gulf Coast Community Federal Credit Union is open to residents or church goers in Harrison or Hancock County.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Most Mississippi federal credit unions serve individuals and also may be called natural-person credit unions. However, corporate credit unions exist 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.
• •  A government credit union in Mississippi 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.