HARRISBURG, Pa. – NAFCU recently wrote a letter to the editor to The Patriot-News defending Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union's decision to enter member business lending. NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker complimented the author on his "well-balanced story," while at the same time berating the bankers quoted in the article for their objections to PSECU's decision. In the letter published in the March 31 edition of The Patriot-News, he wrote, "[I]t strikes me as odd, given that banks earned record profits last year according to the FDIC, that these same bankers are now getting worked up about a credit union wanting to provide small business loans to its members." Becker also pointed out that the article suggests that PSECU is looking for growth out of the business loans, but business lending makes up just 2% of all federally insured credit union loans. He cited a Treasury study which found more than half of credit union business loans were to companies of less than $100,000 in assets and 45% were for people with incomes under $50,000. "This is not a way to boost net income for credit unions nor a way to grow, but a financial service that members want and have asked their credit unions to provide," he concluded. The original article, "Credit unions seek to add loans: Plan to enter new market bothers banking industry," appeared in the March 23 edition of the paper.