The Washington State Division of Credit Unions examines and supervises state credit unions for safety and soundness and compliance with applicable credit union law in order to protect members' financial interests. Although state credit unions are our customers, we recognize that the citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries of our work.
The Division of Credit Unions administers the Washington State Credit Union Act and the Corporate Credit Union Act, chapters 31.12 and 31.13 RCW, respectively. The Division's rules are set forth in Title 208 WAC.
Who We Regulate
Credit unions are cooperative, nonprofit organizations created for the purpose of promoting thrift among their members and providing a source of credit to them. Credit unions may be chartered under state or federal law.
List of Credit Unions We Regulate
Examination and Supervision
The Division of Credit Unions examines and supervises the state credit unions that do business in Washington State, in order to protect their members’ financial interests. The shares and deposits at our state credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). The NCUSIF is administered by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
The NCUA also examines and supervises federal credit unions. You can usually identify federal credit unions by the word “Federal” in their name. The NCUA processes consumer complaints against federal credit unions.
Consumer Protection
Many of the federal consumer protection laws that apply to banks also apply to credit unions. In general, the NCUA has authority to enforce most of these laws against state and federal credit unions. Our Division works with the NCUA to monitor compliance with consumer protection laws by our state credit unions.
The Division also processes consumer complaints against state credit unions.