Another key question in this, I think, is: How relevant is the common bond, as currently defined by the FCUA, to today’s consumers? The answer is: It’s not. And that’s because it’s a legal restriction based on affinities that people don’t care about that much anymore. I can definitely see that single-employer CUs had a big marketing advantage years ago, when people worked at the same company for decades and identified so closely with their job and their company. The CU-membership-as-job-perk had some value then. Today, I would think, any number of lifestyle markers might serve as much better pegs on which to hang a “common bond” kind of brand. People seem to care a lot more about, say, their favorite sports team, or charity or hobby or high-tech lifestyle, than a job they may not keep for more than a few years. Or, for that matter, a neighborhood they might leave for that new job.

Yes, without any field of membership restrictions, a lot of CUs would try to market to every possible member. Would all of them? Nah. Some CUs with community charters are pretty savvy at branding themselves and effectively targeting slices of their potential field of membership right now.