From boot camp to home base: How credit unions keep America’s active-duty forces mission ready

Nominal rent on base leases—first granted in 1928 and reaffirmed by Congress—explain why not-for-profit credit unions remain indispensable to America's active-duty forces.

With every permanent change of station, service members confront fresh security deposits, utility setups, and paystub gaps—costs that escalate when off base banks layer in fees and one size fits all products.

Congress first countered that churn in 1928 by letting not-for-profit credit unions operate on military installations at a nominal lease rate. Advocates call this policy "well-earned" for credit unions.

Military households who use on-base credit unions are up to 2.8 times more likely than their banking peers to say their institution "puts members first," and they post a 1.4-times edge in feeling ready for an emergency, according to the March 2024 Credit Union Consumer Pulse Survey.

A 2023 military voter poll also found active-duty credit union members are nearly twice as likely as banked peers to receive—and act on—personal financial coaching, and 1.5 times more likely to say their institution "improved my financial wellbeing." Those who bank elsewhere were 1.6 times more likely to lack an emergency fund.

Six mission-critical benefits for active duty servicemembers

Nearly a century since Congress first supported nominal rent on base leases for credit unions, the value for active servicemembers has continued to be unmatched.

  • Guaranteed on-base access. The country's 179 defense credit unions specialize in providing services worldwide to more than 37 million members. Credit unions have provided financial services on U.S. military bases since 1928 (overseas since 1967), and a 2006 Federal Credit Union Act amendment reaffirmed DoD authority to grant nominal cost leases to credit unions.
  • Immediate Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) relief. Automatic reduction of preservice debt to the 6% cap and proactive fee refunds through purpose-built workflows.
  • Zero interest deployment loans. Navy Federal's Emergency Relief Loan (up to $5,000) bridges pay gaps when duty stations shift or shutdowns loom.
  • Global, surcharge free access. The COOP network alone offers 32,000 plus fee free ATMs—more than any single U.S. bank.
  • Low or no fee checking. The average monthly maintenance fee of all banks in 2025 is $13.51, according to MoneyRates' 2025 Checking Account Fee Survey, released in February 2025. Most defense credit unions still provide by waiving checking account maintenance fees altogether.
  • Lifecycle coaching. Trained staff guide servicemembers through permanent change of station (PCS) moves, power of attorney prep, and transition to civilian planning.

The downstream effect is measurable: better credit scores, fewer disciplinary issues linked to personal finance, and a smoother path to entrepreneurship for separating servicemembers.

On-base advantage: Readiness you can walk to

For active-duty troops, that proximity is more than convenient. Many defense credit unions match gate schedules, deploy mobile branches to field exercises, and maintain counselors schooled in combat zone pay and family powers of attorney-services banks rarely replicate at scale.

Credit unions' advantage in trust and satisfaction shows up most clearly in the products and policies credit unions tailor to life in uniform. Because they are member-owned-not profit-driven-defense credit unions can bake protections and price breaks into every contract, closing gaps that banks too often leave open. Here are two frontline examples of the credit union difference in action:

  • Rate relief is baked into the policy. Defense credit unions verify duty status through the Defense Manpower Data Center and automatically drop eligible preservice debts to 6 % APR, eliminating paperwork headaches that can snowball into delinquency.
  • Predatory loan escapes. Vice President (and former Marine) J.D. Vance recently recalled a gunnery sergeant steering him from a 21 % car loan to "a better deal" at Navy Federal—proof of the difference an on-base credit union can make at a critical moment.

The bottom line

From first paycheck at boot camp to last PCS back home, credit unions deliver mission-ready finance so America's warfighters can stay mission-focused. Preserving their cooperative charter—and their place on base—keeps that advantage in the hands of those who serve.