Am fost tentată să cred că „bond” înseamnă strict „obligațiune”, dar de fapt se referă la legăturile dintre membrii cooperativei.

„Open to All
In the early days of the credit union movement, most were open only to people who shared common bonds, such as where they lived, worked or worshipped. Today there are just three closed-bond credit unions left in Manitoba - all the rest are open to everyone.

The three closed-bond credit unions are all located in Winnipeg. Their bonds of association are based on:
North Winnipeg - Canadians of Ukrainian heritage residing in Greater Winnipeg
Carpathia - Manitobans of Ukrainian descent
Me-Dian - Indian or Metis heritage”

http://www.creditunion.mb.ca/about/model.htm

„Open Bond Credit Unions serve people living and working in a community and are accessible to anyone wanting to take advantage of their products and services.
Closed Bond Credit Unions serve specific employees or groups, such as employees of a particular company, church or profession. Most closed bond Credit Unions can be easily identified by their name which usually denotes their association.”
http://www.albertacreditunions.com/public/bins/content_page....

Mai jos este un studiu care explică pe larg:

„The countries selected for case studies were Sri Lanka, Brazil, Burkina Faso, and Kenya. In addition, a study visit by a group of leaders of financial cooperatives and related agencies to Mexico provided additional information.”

„Savings and credit cooperatives and credit unions. Financial cooperatives can be divided into two distinct groups, that is, (a) savings and credit cooperatives and their networks (also referred to as cooperative banking), and (b) credit unions. Both are member-based organizations, but they have differences arising from their historical origins and main target groups. They also have associated themselves into different national and international organizations. However, as these organizations have aged, become larger, and developed nearly the same services as ordinary banks, the differences between them have become more blurred.”
http://www.acdivocacoopex.org/acdivoca/CoopLib.nsf/d40b394e0...$FILE/FINANCIAL%20COOPERATIVES%20AND%20RURAL%20OUTREACH%20IN%20DEVELOPING%20COUNTRIES.pdf