In a historic moment, President Obamarecently made one of the biggest announcements on immigrationpolicy since President Reagan's 1986 Immigration Reform and ControlAct.

When he passed executive action Nov. 20, 2014, he made a movethat will affect nearly five million of the estimated 11 millionundocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

Credit unions that act fast and seize this moment have theopportunity to capture new membership thirsty for financialservices and a trusted financial partner.

Pew Research estimates a wide variety in state populations ofundocumented immigrants, with more than half of the 2012undocumented immigrant population living in California, Florida,Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas. The states of Maine,Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia hadfewer than 5,000 undocumented immigrants each in 2012.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, about six million U.S. undocumentedimmigrants are of Mexican origin. The remaining undocumentedpopulation is primarily Canadian, European, Asian, Caribbean andCentral and South American.

While there are multiple components of this executive action,one component will provide legal reprieve for undocumented parentsof U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have lived in thecountry for at least five years, eliminating the threat ofdeportation and granting them a temporary immigration status.

In addition, the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivalsprogram that allowed young immigrants under the age of 30 whoarrived as children to apply for a deportation deferral will beexpanded. Immigrants older than age 30 will now be able to qualifyfor the deferral, as well, affecting an additional 270,000 people.All of the details of the executive action have not been worked outas government agencies work to implement these initiatives in thecoming months.

Regardless of the political nuance of this announcement, it hastremendous economic benefits for the country, including more jobcreation and tax revenue. Financial services providers will alsosee new growth opportunities as immigrants seek financial guidanceand tools to help them navigate this process.

For example, as undocumented immigrants are able to file fortemporary immigration status and receive work authorization, theywill seek new jobs, obtain driver's licenses and open financialinstitution accounts.

In fact, a 2013 Immigration PolicyCenter survey of 1,402 young adults approved for the DACAprogram, found that 61% of young immigrants went on to get a newjob, 54% opened a bank account, 38% obtained a first credit cardand 61% obtained a driver's license.

Undocumented immigrants will be on the lookout for the rightfinancial partner.

Prior to receiving their temporary immigration status,immigrants affected by this action will also be saving andborrowing to pay for the expenses associated with the process. Theywill need to pay fees for filing immigration paperwork and taxreturns, as well as to obtain country of origin documents thatmight be needed for the process.

The DACA filing fee alone is $465, and the renewal fee isanother $465. A family of three that qualifies for the DACA programwill be paying nearly $1,400 to file their DACA applications, notincluding any legal fees an attorney might charge if they seekadditional filing assistance.

Credit unions are poised to offer dignified financial servicesto undocumented immigrants throughout the immigration process asthey seek to integrate into the financial mainstream.

Today, credit unions that are already serving their immigrantcommunities can work to expand their community partnerships andnetworks with immigrant service providers. These providers areseeking financial institutions to offer financial education andproducts to their patrons, as they help individuals with theimmigration process.

Credit unions should be ready to talk about the credit uniondifference, and in some cases, to open savings accounts for thepurpose of paying for the immigration process on the spot at theirpartner's locations. In addition, people will need loans. Preparingthem today for the lending process with information about how tobuild credit and be a good borrower will be key, especially becausemany individuals will be new to a traditional bankingrelationship.

For those credit unions seeking to start a growth program, itwill be imperative to evaluate your organizational culture andoperational framework to ensure you are equipped to serve thispowerful new market before starting any outreach.

Having an inclusive culture and adapting to the market insteadof forcing the market to adapt to your credit union will create arecipe for success. Having a growth strategy will help you be asprepared as possible to serve this new population and buildlong-lasting relationships.

The sooner you are ready, the sooner this influential new marketcan start to experience the credit union difference and choose yourcredit union as their preferred financial institution ofchoice.

Miriam De Dios is CEO of Coopera. She can bereached at [email protected].