NCUA Chairman Dollar Says Credit Unions
Adopting Underserved Areas
Growing Membership 93% Faster Than National Average
NCUA Chairman Says Agency Call Report Data Demonstrates That
Access Across America Is Resulting In Potential Members Becoming Members
WASHINGTON, DC (June 16, 2003) – National Credit Union Administration
(NCUA) Chairman Dennis Dollar told a group of national housing leaders
here today that the NCUA’s Access Across America initiative is
resulting in a membership increase at federal credit unions that expand
their field of membership into underserved areas that is 93% larger
than the national average for credit union membership growth.
Speaking at the National Rural Housing Summit sponsored by the U.
S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development being
held today at the National Press Club, Chairman Dollar touted the agency’s
internal numbers as “proof positive that credit unions are not
merely expanding into underserved areas, they are adopting those communities
and making a positive difference in the lives of the residents there.”
Chairman Dollar said that since the agency began emphasizing the ability
of federal credit unions to expand their fields of membership into
underserved areas at the beginning of 2000 (an initiative now labeled
Access Across America), the average annual membership growth in credit
unions that expanded into underserved areas has been 4.80%. The national
average for annual membership growth in all credit unions was 2.49%
since January 2000.
“The membership growth rate for credit unions who adopt underserved
areas is 93% greater than the average annual growth rate for all federal
credit unions,” said Chairman Dollar. “We have always maintained
that these credit unions, who are required to establish a physical
presence if they adopt an underserved area and present a detailed business
plan on how they will market the entire area and manage the risk, are
expanding into these underserved areas because they have a heartbeat
for the communities and want to extend lower cost financial services
to more folks from all walks of life. The numbers over the first three
years prove that to be so.”
Chairman Dollar said that the agency’s tracking of these membership
growth numbers comes from official NCUA call report data and reinforces
the findings of a recent study conducted by the Credit Union National
Association (CUNA) in its January 2003 “Serving Members Of Modest
Means Survey” which indicated that after an average of 7.3 months
of service per underserved area, the 256 credit unions that adopted
470 underserved areas under NCUA’s Access Across America initiative
have added over 615,000 members from those areas. These members had
a total of $2.1 billion in savings and $2.9 billion in loans as of
June 30, 2002, according to the CUNA survey.
“Both the industry’s survey results and our tracking data
from our NCUA call reports clearly show that Access Across America
is positively impacting these communities with more credit union members,
increased savings and lower cost loan alternatives,” said Chairman
Dollar. “If these early indicators of success were to be extended
over a ten-year period, the results would be astounding. If these trends
continue, credit unions could indeed put the most significant dent
ever into the pawn shop-payday lending mentality which permeates so
many of these neighborhoods, and I would consider that to be one of
the crowning achievements of Access Across America.”
Federal Credit Union Membership Growth Trends 2000 - 2002
Federal Credit Union Growth Trends in Underserved Areas 2000 - 2002
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.
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