Office of the Chairman

NCUA’S DOLLAR, JOHNSON PARTICIPATE IN FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION COMMISSION INAUGURAL MEETING

Agency Touts Success of Access Across America and Opportunities for Financial Education

Washington, January 29, 2004 – National Credit Union Administration Chairman Dennis Dollar and Vice Chair JoAnn Johnson participated in the first meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

In remarks to the inaugural meeting of the Commission, Chairman Dollar said that financial education was a “vital ingredient to achieving the American Dream” of financial self-sufficiency and pledged NCUA’s full support to the Commission’s efforts.

The commission is chaired by Secretary of the Treasury John Snow and includes officials from 20 federal agencies. Today’s meeting was opened with remarks by Secretary Snow and Federal Reserve System Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, followed by remarks by Chairman Dollar and the heads of other participating agencies.

To emphasize the NCUA’s level of commitment to this effort by designating a permanent representative for future Commission meetings, Chairman Dollar named Vice Chair JoAnn Johnson as the agency’s official representative to serve on the Commission. Other agency heads have likewise designated key officials from their respective agencies to serve as permanent representatives, some designating presidential appointees such as Vice Chair Johnson and others naming key departmental leaders at the agencies.

“Before anyone can effectively achieve financial self-sufficiency necessary to break the cycle of payday lending and progressing to the point where the individual can establish the credit base upon which to build an approvable application for a new vehicle or a home mortgage, they must first have a foundation of understanding the America’s mainstream financial system,” said Chairman Dollar.

Through NCUA’s Access Across America initiative, which focuses on creating economic empowerment, the agency has promoted the importance and encouraged credit union participation in developing financial literacy programs across America, in particular the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Money Smart program.

“ Credit unions have been very innovative in financial education initiatives, an element that must not be overlooked as part of a credit union’s outreach efforts,” said Vice Chair Johnson. “We all have a responsibility to help Americans understand the financial system and empower them to become smart financial planners.”

At the inaugural meeting today, the members of the Commission discussed the establishment of subcommittees to fulfill two of the legislation’s charges: to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for financial education purposes; and establish and maintain a financial education website that will serve as a central clearinghouse for citizens who are in search of financial education information and programs.

The new Commission’s goal is to promote financial education and improve the financial literacy of all Americans. The Commission will work to encourage government and private sector efforts to promote financial literacy, and coordinate financial education efforts of the federal government, including the identification and promotion of best practices.

The legislation that created the Financial Literacy and Education Commission calls for the development of a national strategy to promote financial literacy and education among all American consumers; establishment of a website to serve as a clearinghouse and provide a coordinated point of entry for information about federal financial literacy and education programs, grants, and other information the Commission finds appropriate; and the establishment of a toll-free hotline available to members of the public seeking information about issues pertaining to financial literacy and education.

The Financial Literacy and Education Commission was created by Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, signed by President Bush on December 4, 2003. The Commission is composed of the Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; the Office of Thrift Supervision; the Federal Reserve; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the National Credit Union Administration; the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Departments Education, Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs; the Federal Trade Commission; the General Services Administration; the Small Business Administration; the Social Security Administration; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and the Office of Personnel Management.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Education has been designated by Congress to lend its expertise and provide primary support to the Commission to assist it in fulfilling its functions and duties. The Office of Financial Education (OFE) was established in May 2002, as part of the Treasury Department’s long-term commitment to ensure that all Americans have access to financial education programs that will help them make informed financial decisions throughout their lives.

More information about the OFE can be found at: www.treasury.gov/financialeducation. For additional information regarding the NCUA’s Access Across America initiative, visit www.accessacrossamerica.gov.

The National Credit Union Administration, governed by a three-member board appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, is the independent federal agency that regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, with the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, also operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), insuring the deposits of over 80 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.