It all began in a small office in the corn mill of Kankakee's General Foods Company. A new financial provider, General Foods Employees Credit Union, was established to offer payroll deduction for savings and loan products to the Kankakee Gaines Plant and Corn Mill.

It grew to become CommonWealth Credit Union, a multi-site, full-service financial cooperative that is now community chartered to serve anyone who lives or works in Kankakee, Ford, Iroquois, Livingston, Kendall, Grundy, or Will Counties. CommonWealth Credit Union is the largest credit union in Kankakee County.

Over the years, the credit union expanded its field of membership to include additional divisions of General Foods in Illinois and other states.

In 1974, a merger of General Foods, Kankakee, and its counterparts in Chicago and Northlake occurred, increasing assets to $6 million.

The Early 1980's brought additionals changes. The Phillip Morris Company bought the General Foods Gaines Plant in Kankakee and sold it a short time later to Anderson Clayton Foods. Soon, the Quaker Oats Company bought the Anderson Clayton Foods plant in Kankakee. The employees of the former General Foods were now served by the company's corporate credit union in New York. Quaker, however, continued to offer payroll deduction to all of the employees at the Gaines dog food plant in Kankakee.

General Foods Employees Credit Union merged All Faiths Credit Union in Kankakee in 1986. All Faiths Credit Union was the result of numerous mergers between smaller credit unions in the area, including Kankakee County Catholic Credit Union.

In 1987, the General Foods Employees Credit Union changed its name to CommonWealth Credit Union and was chartered as a "community credit union" to serve anyone who lived or worked in Kankakee, Ford, or Iroquois County. The new name stood for "the common wealth" of the credit union's members. The merger with All Faiths Credit Union included an office at 260 S. Washington Avenue in Kankakee. This facility became CommonWealth Credit Union's first branch location.

CommonWealth Credit Union added a second branch in 1988, located at 111 W. Cherry Street in Watseka.

CommonWealth Credit Union constructed our current 8,000 square foot main office in 1999 at 563 Wm. Latham Drive in Bourbonnais.

In 2002, we added internet access and Bill Pay to our the list of services, giving members another way to access their accounts. TelCU Audio Response and ATMs serve for members without computers.

We continue to upgrade and add to our products and services as technology advances.  We now offer beneficial tools like online loan applications, mobile banking, an upgraded responsive website, and much more to come.

CWCU now has over $70 million in assets, serving over 10,000 members with our Bourbonnais location which includes drive up service and ATM.