Credit Unions are community-based financial cooperatives that are owned and controlled by members who are also shareholders. Among the benefits of being a member of a Credit Union in the U.S. is ownership of an ATM card that can be used in a number of automated teller machines without surcharge fees. This way, customers are able to save a significant amount of money and time, especially if their banks' ATMs are not located in a convenient place.

One of the largest Credit Unions that offer free ATM transactions in the U.S. has a network of 32,000 ATMs. Among the areas covered by its network of ATM machines are Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan and Delaware, with a few machines located in Illinois, Wisconsin and Chicago.

Because most of the Credit Unions in the U.S. are small, the proposal to build an alliance among them seems like a promising idea worth exploring. By teaming up with each other, the credit unions will be able to expand their network and provide their members with more options for ATM transactions. According to the president of a famous credit union in the U.S., joining a credit union league enables them to possess immediate physical presence in emerging markets without using up monetary resources in building physical infrastructure. This way, the credit unions gain more ground in the competition against the mega-banks of the country.

Apart from Credit Unions, the concept of a credit union league is also attractive for independent banks in the U.S. Because most of these banks are also small, they can also benefit greatly from becoming a member of a credit union league. Michigan's largest independent savings bank, with reported assets of $13 billion, is a member of a credit union league.

ATMs that belong to Credit Unions can easily be detected because there is a logo of the credit union at the back of the machine. To locate credit union ATM sites, most credit unions have a Web site where members can find the most accessible ATM location for them.