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Field of membership: what it means

A field of membership is the rule that says who can join a credit union. According to the NCUA, the federal credit union agency, members share a common bond: you may be able to join through your employer, your family, where you live, work, study or worship, or by belonging to a group, such as a labor union.

In Spanish it is

Campo de afiliación (field of membership)

Also written as: common bond · FOM

A pregnant woman takes groceries out of the car in front of her garage.

Verified on October 17, 2026

3 official sources

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

Depending on the type of federal credit union, the field can be one group with a common bond, several groups or a community in an area. At a federal credit union, to join through a relative you must be part of their immediate family or household.

An example

Marisol wants to open an account at a credit union. She checks its field of membership and sees that she can join because she lives in the county the credit union serves.

You will see it in…

The credit union's page on who can join
The application to open an account
Questions about your job, your family or where you live

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. NCUA (MyCreditUnion.gov) · What is a credit union? (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
2. NCUA · Field-of-Membership Expansion (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
3. Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School) · 12 U.S.C. § 1759: membership (federal credit unions) (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026