CHICAGO — The state's newly appointed credit union regulator, Robert Meza, a Chicago attorney, said Thursday payday lending and the role credit unions can play in serving those consumer needs will be among his priorities.

“I just went to a meeting where I heard some interesting statistics from the FDIC on financial institutions reaching out to the unbanked and so this is one area where I hope to work with the credit union community,” said Meza, appointed Feb. 4 by Gov. Rod Blagojevich as director of the Division of Financial Institutions.

Meza, who succeeds a series of acting directors with turnover in the agency during recent years, told Credit Union Times he “looks forward very much” to working with the Illinois Credit Union League on pressing matters. He said his first meeting with top staffers Feb. 13 went well.

The Illinois League said in a formal press release the Meza session dealt in part with “changes in the organizational structure” of state regulatory agencies and also focused on conditions in the Illinois CU movement.

“Meza has diverse public and private sector experience,” said the league. Most recently, he was an attorney with Williams Acosta, a Detroit-based firm, serving clients in real estate and eminent domain practice. He previously served as vice president of legal affairs for Urban Investment Trust Inc., a Chicago-based development firm with both commercial and residential holdings.