The Occupy Money Cooperative, the financial organization Occupy WallStreet activists are trying to start in New York City, couldone day sponsor a credit union, according to its founder.

Carne Ross, spokesman for the group of 10 activists that he saidis behind the effort, told Credit Union Times on Thursdaythat while founding a credit union right away was an effort thegroup thought too time-consuming and expensive at the start, thatshould not be interpreted as meaning that group was againststarting a credit union.

The group has said that it had ruled out immediately starting acredit union because credit unions carry field of membershiprestrictions, but Ross said that once its cooperative was up andrunning he could imagine it launching a credit union as a way ofproviding lower cost financial services.

“Certainly, nothing we are doing or saying should be taken asbeing against credit unions at all,” Ross said.

“We love credit unions and urge people to join one if they can,”he added, pointing out that he is already a member of the 5800member, $36 million Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union.

Ross said the cooperative had just been incorporated in New Yorktoday and added the group was currently raising “several months”worth of operating expenses so that it could hire staff to get itup and running, a figure he estimated would run to several hundredsof thousands of dollars.

He also said the group had struck upon offering a prepaid cardas the cooperative's first financial product because its relativeease of issuing and accessibility made it a good product for themillions of people who can't open credit union accounts.

“While we urge everyone to join a credit union, right now thereare 10 million households in this country which can't do that,”Ross said. “The card provides them an easy and affordable way tostart getting some financial services.”

He also pointed out that the card will help the cooperative growand that rising numbers of card users will help make card servicesthat much less expensive per card.

The cooperative will issue the card in partnership with anotherfirm, likely a bank, but Ross would not comment further about whichone it might be or what conditions such a card might face.

“Everyone will learn more details about the card when we offerit,” he said, adding that he would not oppose offering the card inpartnership with a credit union.

Efforts by another group of Occupy activists in California tostart a credit union, meanwhile, have stalled for lack of startupcapital, its organizers said.