Our Story

The year was 1939, and in a shipyard in Groton 10 men gathered to chip in $25 each to create a lending institution to help their fellow workers. They put their hard-earned cash inside a shoebox, and they weren’t sure if they’d ever see that $25 investment again.

But they took that bold first step, and they called their proud new lending institution the Groton Shipbuilders Federal Credit Union – as a fitting tribute to their shipyard workers.

They may have begun with a small investment, but their dreams were big, and their vision even bigger.

Today, that $250 packed inside a shoebox has become a $1 billion-plus financial institution called Charter Oak Federal Credit Union – we’re eastern Connecticut’s largest credit union and a leading financial institution in Connecticut. We offer full financial services – banking, investments, insurance and more – with a network of convenient branches located throughout eastern Connecticut.

We’re also a not-for-profit financial cooperative where each and every member can say he or she is also an owner. We return our earnings to our members through lower rates and fees on loans and higher yields on our deposits.

And we’re proud to say that since 1939 we’ve been governed exclusively by our members – not by stockholders. Our Board of Directors is composed entirely of volunteers who receive no compensation for their hard work and are elected by our membership.

Ours is indeed a proud history, steeped with many rich milestones over the decades, but through it all we’ve remained committed to our credit union roots that began modestly enough in that shipyard in Groton.

So if you’re not yet a member of Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, we invite you to join us. Become a member today! See why Members Bank Better at Charter Oak!