Streamlining the charter origination process, improving communication among interested parties and preparing credit union organizers better for the challenge of launching a credit union are all part of what the NCUA and outside groups say will be needed to shorten the amount of time it takes to charter a new, federally insured credit union.

"We have seen a significant surge in interested organizing groups contacting us for assistance over the past several years, but especially since the public awakening to the benefit of credit unions brought forth by Bank Transfer Day and the Occupy movement," explained Rafael Morales, Public Affairs Officer for the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. "Many organizers that have begun the process have found it difficult to work with NCUA, primarily due to a general lack of responsiveness," Morales added.

The National Federation has been on forefront of the chartering issue for some years, publishing a book about credit union organizing in 2003 and working to keep it updated as time as passed. The group is now working with about 40 groups that are at different stages of the chartering process and has made suggestions to the agency about what it could do to make the process easier and smoother for organizers. For example, making all chartering requirements as transparent as possible from the very beginning of the chartering effort and working with organizers to conduct inquiries and complete required processes in parallel during the process, rather than sequentially.