Irony of Banker Attacks on CU Service to Modest Means Not Lost on Hyland

WASHINGTON -- NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland highlighted the irony of banker statements that credit unions are not doing enough to serve those of modest means while simultaneously having successfully sued to bar non-multiple common bond credit unions from adopting underserved areas.

"While we will provide the GAO with the raw data the agency collected, such data will be accompanied by a full analysis and report that effectively responds to the questions asked of the agency and reflects the ways credit unions are reaching out to all of their members," Hyland assured. Credit unions and their trade associations have raised concerns that credit union fields of membership, often restricted to an employee group, have restricted them from serving some of the underserved.

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) noted the lack of data on credit unions' service to the underserved during a hearing last November, prompting the NCUA survey. "It's a bit ironic that the agency is being asked to statistically verify credit unions' outreach to all segments of their membership, especially people of modest means, yet the primary tool to do such outreach--adding an underserved area to a field of membership--is not available to all federally chartered credit unions," Hyland stated.

She added that field of membership issues will continue to present challenges for credit unions. Hyland encouraged credit unions to look for opportunities within their existing fields of membership. "It is the size of a credit union's vision, not assets, that will determine its future," she said. --scooke@cutimes.com