Q 01/05

Who owns a credit union?

A) A parent bank

B) Outside stockholders

C) The federal government

D) The depositors themselves

Answer · why

D) The depositors themselves

Members elect the board on a one-person-one-vote basis regardless of how much they have deposited, which is the core difference from a bank.

Q 02/05

How are votes allocated when credit union members elect their board of directors?

A) One vote per dollar deposited

B) Only borrowers may vote

C) Votes weighted by years of membership

D) One vote per member

Answer · why

D) One vote per member

That democratic structure is why credit unions describe their mission as 'serve people, not profit.'

Q 03/05

What is the credit union term for a savings deposit?

A) A dividend fund

B) A trust account

C) A member ledger

D) A share account

Answer · why

D) A share account

Checking accounts are share draft accounts and CDs are share term certificates, reflecting the fact that depositors are part-owners.

Q 04/05

In several African countries, what is a credit union commonly called?

A) A tontine

B) A stokvel

C) A SACCO

D) A chama

Answer · why

C) A SACCO

It stands for savings and credit co-operative. Kenya alone has more than five million credit union members.

Q 05/05

Which German pioneer merged two Saxony pilot projects in 1852 into the world's first credit unions?

A) Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch

B) Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen

C) Wilhelm Haas of Darmstadt

D) Ferdinand Lassalle of Breslau

Answer · why

A) Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch

His urban 'people's banks' served artisans and shopkeepers. Raiffeisen adapted the idea for rural villages a decade later.