Origins and how a credit union works

Most financial institutions are named after a founder or a place. Listerhill is named after a place that was itself named after a person, and the story explains a lot about how the credit union still describes its purpose today.

A town built around an aluminum plant

According to the credit union's own history, in 1937 industrialist Richard S. Reynolds returned from Europe, where he had been looking for sources of aluminum for his company, Reynolds Metals. He shared what he had seen of Germany's military build-up with Congress. Alabama's U.S. Senator Lister Hill took up the cause, and the two helped persuade Congress that the country needed to produce military aircraft.

A Reynolds plant was built in the Shoals area of northwest Alabama, along with a new community named Listerhill. During the Second World War, from 1942 to 1945, the plant supplied material for the nation's aircraft. After the war it switched to producing Reynolds aluminum foil and remained a major local employer for decades.

1952: seven workers and $5 each

Ten years after the plant opened, seven Reynolds Metals employees decided to do something about a problem their co-workers kept running into: predatory lending. Loan sharks were offering workers money at extreme interest rates, sometimes on terms that never seemed to end. The seven men each put in $5 and founded a cooperative so that workers could save together and lend to one another on fair terms.

The credit union began operating inside the plant in 1953 and soon built a headquarters across the street, where its main office still stands at 4790 East 2nd Street in Muscle Shoals.

One co-founder, Cyril B. Mann, chaired the board of directors for more than 57 years. The credit union reports that the World Council of Credit Unions recognized him as the longest-serving board chairman in credit union history, and he was posthumously inducted into the Credit Union House Hall of Leaders in 2012.

From one plant to a regional institution

Over the following decades the credit union expanded beyond Reynolds employees, took on more employer groups and opened branches across northwest Alabama. Today it describes itself as the seventh-largest credit union in Alabama, with about $1 billion in assets and roughly 100,000 members.

Some recent milestones the credit union has published:

• It was named among the best credit unions in Alabama in Forbes' Best-in-State Credit Unions list.
• It earned Great Place To Work certification in 2026, based on employee surveys.
• It opened a new branch in Winfield, Alabama, with a grand opening in August 2026.
• Its charitable arm, the Listerhill Foundation, runs community programs including a grant program for elementary schools and a shoe-donation program for students.

What "credit union" actually means for you

A credit union offers many of the same services as a bank: checking, savings, cards, loans and mortgages. The difference is who owns it and why it exists.

• Members are the owners. When you open an account, you buy a small ownership share (at Listerhill, $5). There are no outside shareholders.
• One member, one vote. Members elect the board of directors, and each member gets one vote no matter how much money they have on deposit.
• Not-for-profit. After covering operating costs and required reserves, earnings are returned to members, typically through dividends on savings, lower loan rates or fewer fees. Whether that translates into a better deal for you depends on the specific product, so it's still worth comparing.
• Membership has rules. Every credit union has a defined "field of membership" set out in its charter. You have to fit it to join. Chapter 2 covers Listerhill's.
• Lifetime membership. Listerhill states that once you are a member, you stay one even if you move, retire or change jobs.

Is money at a credit union insured?

Yes, at federally insured credit unions. Listerhill states that it is federally insured by the NCUA. The NCUA's National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund is the credit union equivalent of FDIC insurance at banks. Standard coverage is $250,000 per share owner, per insured credit union, for each account ownership category. Joint accounts, retirement accounts and trust accounts can each qualify for separate coverage. You can check the details and use the NCUA's own estimator at ncua.gov.

Credit union vocabulary, translated

Credit unions often use their own terms for familiar products. You will see these on Listerhill's website and statements.