PenFed Credit Union said Monday it's rejoining CUNA, thesecond multi-billion dollar credit union to publicly announce itsre-affiliation this year.

The Alexandria-Va.-based cooperative saidits board of directors unanimously votedto rejoin national trade organization. The $19.9 billionPenFed disaffiliated with CUNA and the Virginia Credit UnionLeague at the end of 2004.

PenFed President/CEO James Schenck said in a prepared statementthat the nation's third largest credit union will also continue tosupport and actively participate in the Defense Credit UnionCouncil and NAFCU, noting that the more voices representingcredit unions, the more powerful the movement will be onCapitol Hill, in regulatory agencies and in the military services.However, PenFed said it does not intend to rejoin the VirginiaCredit Union League.

“PenFed iscommitted to supporting the entire creditunion community, as it is under attack with excessiveregulation which has a disproportionate impact on the small andmid-size credit unions,” Schenck said. “CUNA represents nearly all6,000 of our nation's credit unions and 100 millionmembers. So I hope PenFed's renewed membershipin CUNA sends a clear signal that PenFed is focusedon helping credit unions of all sizes succeed in servingtheir members. We look forward to supporting the Credit UnionAwareness Initiative and other programs advocated by CUNA and theNational Credit Union Foundationto help America's credit unions grow evenstronger.”

In April, the industry's second largest credit union, the $33.7billion SECU in Raleigh, N.C., rejoined CUNA.

SECU President/CEO Jim Blaine, who is retiring, triggered an industry-wide controversy and debate afterstating he disaffiliated with CUNA and the state league in 2014over the dual membership requirement and other issues.

In March, more than 90% of CUNA's members voted in favor ofhistoric bylaw changes that included eliminating the dualmembership requirement in 2017 that allows credit unionsthe choice to decide whether to join CUNA, their state leagues orboth.

In April, Blaine said SECU had not decided whether to rejoin theCarolinas Credit Union League.

T.V. Johnson, PenFed's vice president of corporatecommunications, said the credit union does not intend to rejoin theVirginia Credit Union League because PenFed wants to keep itsnational focus.

Johnson also said the elimination of the dual membershiprequirement did not play a role in PenFed's decision to rejoinCUNA, adding that the credit union rejoined CUNA to increaserepresentation in Washington to advance the interests of PenFed andother federal credit unions.

“Any organization is only as good as its people,” Schencksaid. “My philosophy is to constantlysurround PenFed internally and externally with the best andthe brightest to lead the credit union movementforward. There are no better people or leadersthan CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle and FoundationExecutive Director Gigi Hyland in representing and growingthe credit union movement and our collective mission of financial literacy.”

“I'm grateful for PenFed's decision to join CUNA and I thankits board of directors, James Schenck and his teamfor their time in considering this move. We are proud to partnerwith an organization dedicated to supporting those who serve thiscountry,” Nussle said in a prepared statement. “It is fantastic tohave all of PenFed's 1.4 million members as part of our collectivevoice as the CUNA-league system continues to strengthen creditunion advocacy and grow credit union market share. We are strongertogether.”