gations, real estate mortgage investment conduits, stripped mortgage securities,. and residual obligation instruments ("Credit unions show steady growth," 1994, 21-22).
This level of financial health represents a major shift from the credit union of even 25 years ago, when the average credit union had less than $1 million in assets, offered only savings and loans, and had a small staff made up primarily of volunteers. Credit unions so constituted today serve only 10 percent of credit union members, while the typical union has more than $20 million in assets and offers a wide range of products and services ("Shifting product and service delivery," 1993, 6).
The definition of a credit union has been changing. In the past, government employees and those working for big companies could always gain access to a credit union. More and more people today are able to do so through small employee groups which have been permitted to join larger credit unions and through community-based credit unions which have expanded the geographic areas they serve. Banks and savings and loans have not been happy about the competition, and in five states banks have sued competi
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