Credit unions primarily engage in consumer loans and residential real estate lending to their members. Credit union performance is at a historically high level. Currently, credit union capital nationwide is 10.28% and the equity ratio of the federal insurance fund, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), has operated above 1.25 % for 11 consecutive years.

Since 1984, credit unions have fully funded their federal deposit insurance program on a pay-as-you-go basis. Each year, credit unions deposit sufficient funds to ensure that the fund's equity ratio is maintained at or above 1.2%. While the NCUSIF is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, the structure of the insurance fund ensures that only if all of the capital in the credit union movement were to be exhausted would taxpayer funds be spent on credit unions. Like other deposit insurance funds, NCUSIF protects member deposits to $100,000.