Posted online by C.R. Roberts at 4:52 p.m. Friday

David Bennett, director of public relations for the Washington Credit Union League called Friday afternoon to say, “One thing that I haven’t heard any reporting on is the National Credit Union Administration, the NCUA, that administers the credit union insurance fund.”

Let’s change that.

Not unlike the FDIC – which has been much in the news lately and which insures accounts at banks – the NCUA insures the accounts of credit union members.

Bennett also said, “Historically, bad times for banks are good times for credit unions.” And these are bad times for at least one bank, the former Washington Mutual.

So how good are the times for credit unions?

TAPCO and BECU, Bennett said, have seen a good number of new customers. Tacoma’s TAPCO, he said, “has run out of switch kits for former Washington Mutual customers, and they’re having more printed.” As the name implies, a switch kit allows a customer of one institution to change allegiance.

Bennett said that statewide, between last December and this June, “62,789 new member accounts were opened. During the previous six months, June-December 2007, 23,531 new accounts were opened. That’s an increase of 39,258.”