CHAMPAIGN – The University of Illinois Employees Credit Union was recently cited by CreditCards.com as having the most readable credit card agreement of more than 1,200 examined.

The website analyzed agreements in a database maintained by the Federal Reserve. The UI Employees Credit Union's agreement was 280 words long and could be understood by someone with only six years of education, CreditCards.com stated.

In contrast, the GTE Federal Credit Union's agreement was 3,558 words long, and someone would need 18.5 years of education to understand it, according to the analysis.

Credit unions accounted for all 10 of the most readable credit card agreements examined. But they also accounted for eight of the 10 most unreadable agreements.

In the interest of full disclosure, Greg Anderson, executive vice president of the UI Employees Credit Union, noted the credit union's "award-winning entry" is now obsolete.

The Web site's analysis was based on credit card agreements submitted in December 2009. Since then, the government has required additional disclosures in an effort to make things more understandable, he said.