In early 1933, a small group of railroaders got together with the idea of starting a financial cooperative, better known as a credit union. Their idea of a credit union would be to help the common rank and file worker with financial management, to help them recover from the destruction of the flood of 1927, the devastation of the stock market crach in 1929, and the ensuing depression.

According to ACT 161, ACTS of 1931, any seven residents of the State of Arkansas could apply to the Blue Sky Division of the Railroad Commission of the State of Arkansas for permission to organize a credit union. Seven employees of Missouri Pacific Railroad got together and composed a set of by-laws which they officially signed on Augus 14, 1933.

The Arkansas Railroad Commission Securities Department approved the credit union's charter request and on September 15, 1933, North Little Rock Missouri Pacific Credit Union was born.

In the early days the credit union lived in a cigar box that was carried around in a brief case. This made the credit union mobile, and transactions could be made in any of the shops. Loans were small and so were deposits, but the credit union was there to help when it could. (It should also be noted that at around this same time, Union Depot Credit Union was also being chartered to serve MoPac's management, while NLR MoPac CU would serve the "blue collar rail workers.")

The credit union continued to grow, and in early 1995, the Board of Directors finally decided that it would be in the best interest of the credit union to change its name to match that of its sponsor. For many years they had resisted that change out of loyalty to the company which had orginally hired them, but they now felt the time had come to change. They applied to the National Credit Union Administration, and on March 7, 1995, they received notification that the credit union's name had officially been changed from North Little Rock Missouri Pacific Federal Credit Union to Union Pacific of Arkansas Federal Credit Union.

Over the ned seventy-six years UPFCU thrived and grew and provided financial services to help its members create a better life for themselves and their families.