WASHINGTON-NCUA announced recently that it has made improvements to the Internet-based field of membership (FOM) expansion request form. The action was announced in Letter to Federal Credit Unions 02-FCU-08, updating letter 00-FCU-02 from November 2000, and is available at NCUA's Web site (www.ncua.gov). "While use of the FOMIA is optional, I encourage you to utilize the application to the extent possible," NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar said in the letter. "The FOM application form takes about 10 minutes to complete and enables you to receive an immediate electronic confirmation of the action taken." After the agency approves the application, the credit union's board of directors can move to immediately begin serving the group. Over 8,400 select groups with more than 485,000 potential members have been added via the Internet process, according to the letter. Nearly 50% of credit unions adding select groups of 500 or less do so using the Internet application.