While perhaps better known as the first chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pierre Jay (1892-1949) was the Banking Commissioner in Massachusetts at the time the state became the first to pass a credit union act in 1909. A contemporary and friend of Edward Filene, Jay helped to organize public hearings that would play a role in creating that legislation. Jay had previously studied efforts by groups of employees to start their own, informal savings and loan associations, but those foundered due to a lack of a legal basis. He had also studied the European model of "people's banks."
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Today, the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) names its highest award after Jay.
