Is Your Favorite Christmas Movie a Credit Union Movie?
It’s A Wonderful ... Credit Union?
It starts, as all great stories do, with a crisis.
It’s Christmas Eve in Bedford Falls, and George Bailey—our affable, hard-working everyman—is staring into the icy abyss off a small-town bridge. Years of sacrifice, missed opportunities, and dashed dreams have led him here. But what pushed him over the edge: a misplaced $8,000 leading to the looming collapse of the Bailey Bros. Building and Loan.
To George, the Building and Loan isn’t just another financial institution. It’s his life’s work. It’s the community’s last defense against a world where only the greediest thrive and everyone else scrambles for crumbs.
For anyone who’s ever walked into a credit union, that spirit feels familiar.
What was a Building and Loan Association?
To understand the journey of George Bailey, you first need to understand the Bailey Bros. Building and Loan.
In early 20th-century America, the average working family had little access to home loans. Big banks served the wealthy and well-connected. Lower income families—well, they rented or lived in cramped quarters. Then came Building and Loan Associations. They were grassroots, locally-driven organizations where neighbors pooled their savings to help each other buy homes. The people were the bank.
Sound familiar? Swap “Building and Loan” for “credit union,” and you’ll quickly notice similarities.
Like credit unions today, Building and Loans were built on cooperation, not competition. They didn’t serve shareholders; they served members. They existed not to make a profit but to make a difference.
That’s what George Bailey spent his life defending. And that’s what makes him the unsung “patron saint” of credit unions everywhere.
“Neighbors pooled their money. Families helped families buy homes. It was community finance, built on trust.”
The Bailey Way
Let’s go back to Bedford Falls.
Picture the scene: George and Mary are ready to leave for their honeymoon. George is holding a wad of cash—a rare chance to taste his own version of the American Dream. But as George and Mary drive away, they find chaos in the streets. The bank has shut its doors. Panic is spreading. Now a run on the Building and Loan has begun.
Mr. Potter, the antagonist banker, is poised to profit off the fears of a Bedford Falls community dreading the loss of their life’s savings. “I’ll pay you fifty cents on the dollar!” he tells them.
George has a choice. He can disappear with his new bride. Or he can fight for the people who have trusted him.
“What’s the matter with you people? Don’t you see? Don’t you see what’s happening here?” he pleads.
George doesn’t give them a grand speech or empty promises. Mary offers up their honeymoon money—and George gives up his dreams—to keep the Bailey Building and Loan alive.
That’s not banking. That’s believing. And that’s credit union thinking.
Why It Matters
Credit unions aren’t in the business of squeezing every penny from their members. They’re in the business of trust—of saying, “We’re all in this together.” George Bailey understood that.
Mr. Potter, Bedford Falls’ resident villain, taunts George Bailey, who’s desperate to recover the missing $8,000, with the grim phrase: “You’re worth more dead than alive.”
It’s a revealing line. Mr. Potter doesn’t see a person in need. He sees numbers on a balance sheet.
But George, despite his flaws, never failed to see his friends’ and neighbors’ basic dignity.
That’s what credit unions do today. They look past the numbers and see the people. They’re the modern-day Bailey Bros. Building and Loan, still working to make sure families have homes, small businesses get loans, and communities thrive.
People Helping People
The final scenes of It’s a Wonderful Life are more than just heartwarming—they’re a masterclass in what happens when people take care of each other.
The townspeople rally. They empty their pockets. They save George Bailey and the Building and Loan—not because they have to, but because they want to.
That’s the credit union spirit in action.
Every time you walk into a credit union, you’re stepping into George Bailey’s world—a world where the “little guy” matters, where money is a means to an end, and where people, not profits, come first.
And, yes, everybody’s favorite Christmas movie is a credit union movie!
About the Author
Scott Nelson
Scott Nelson has served as Achieve Credit Union’s Marketing Director since 2022. Scott’s a big fan of credit unions and the positive impact they have on the local communities they serve.
Fun fact: You may see Scott at your local high school baseball games - as an umpire.