Dollar to Join Matz at PALS Workshop on Alternatives to Predatory Lending

Free Workshop for Credit Unions to be Held in Dallas on Jan. 26

November 19, 2003, Alexandria, VA – National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Dennis Dollar will join NCUA Board Member Debbie Matz in keynoting a free workshop in Dallas on January 26 to discuss alternatives to predatory lending.

Matz is putting together the workshop as part of her Partnering and Leadership Successes (PALS) initiative. “This PALS workshop is an opportunity for credit unions to share innovative programs to attract new members and to prevent their members and communities from being victimized by predatory lenders,” said Matz. “I am enormously pleased that Chairman Dollar, architect of NCUA’s Access Across America initiative, will share his perspectives on this important issue in a keynote address.”

PALS is Matz’s contribution to the Access Across America initiative, which Chairman Dollar introduced in 2001, and focuses on creating economic empowerment and financial self-sufficiency for Americans from all walks of life.

“America’s credit unions are certainly part of the solution to offering an alternative to the pawnshop-payday lending cycle so many folks in underserved neighborhoods find themselves trapped in today,” said Chairman Dollar. “The best practices and successes of credit unions on the front lines of offering lower-cost alternatives to many of these higher-cost loans can be of tremendous benefit to other credit unions that are looking for proven and innovative ways to extend their outreach to more Americans who need these alternatives. I appreciate Board Member Matz’s initiative in developing a PALS workshop which focuses on this vitally important issue to both credit unions and consumers.”

Co-hosted by the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU), the Texas Credit Union League and Texas Credit Union Foundation, the workshop will feature panel discussions on topics including:

• Payday loan alternatives;
• Affordable homeownership financing;
• Risk-based lending;
• Innovative financial education;
• Volunteer income tax assistance (VITA);
• Individual development accounts (IDAs);
• International remittances;
• Partnerships with community organizations, and
• Mobile and in-store branches.

To view the complete agenda and registration materials, visit www.ncua.gov and click PALS, or call 703-518-6610. Participants are encouraged to register early because seating is limited.

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, operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 80 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.