The NCUA has approved the chartering of a new credit union in Kalamazoo, Mich., that will have as its fiscal sponsor the same organization that sponsored one that vanished by merger last month in nearby Battle Creek.
Community Promise FCU will open in November with a low-income designation and as the third credit union chartered by the NCUA this year, the agency’s Office of Consumer Protection announced on Tuesday.
It will serve the approximately 150,000 people who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school and transact business in the Kalamazoo area, the NCUA said.
Guardian Finance and Advocacy Services, a non-profit organization providing financial and advocacy services through available community resources, is the fiscal sponsor for the credit union, the NCUA said. The group retains and manages the various grant funds received by the credit union, the agency said.
The same organization sponsored a new credit union in Battle Creek in 2010. Inspire Community Development FCU opened its doors in May of that year. With assets of about $431,000 and about 430 members, it was merged last month into the $685 million First Community FCU in Parchment, Mich.
“The chartering of Community Promise means more people in southwest Michigan will have access to affordable financial services,” said NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz.
“As a new charter in a market with few other insured financial institutions, this credit union will be well-positioned to make a significant difference in the local community. I applaud everyone who organized and supported this chartering effort,” Matz said.
The NCUA said its Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives will assist the new credit union, which as a low-income credit union will be able to accept non-member deposits, receive grants and loans from the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, accept secondary capital accounts and be exempt from the member business lending cap.
The NCUA said financial literacy and membership education will be top priorities for the credit union and that it will begin by offering regular shares, club shares, share certificates, unsecured loans, share secured loans, auto loans, money orders, prepaid cash cards, and check cashing.
The other two credit union charters approved by the NCUA this year were for Internet Archive FCU in New Jersey and Lakota FCU at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
