Effective oversight also entails looking at what an industry is doing right and recognizing the contributions of the people within that industry who are getting it right, the chairman of the board for the federal credit union regulator said Thursday at an event designating a new low-income credit union.
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board Chairman Rodney Hood, in remarks designating Destinations Credit Union of Parkville, Md., a low-income CU, said the institution is an example of “people getting it right.”
According to NCUA, the designation is available to credit unions that serve communities with majority low-income populations. The designation also provides the credit unions with an exception to the statutory business lending cap for credit unions, as well as access to Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants and loans, secondary capital, and non-member deposits.
Hood said that “getting it right” is something his agency wants to encourage in the credit union industry.
“Whether it’s offering different types of financial products that serve your members more effectively; expanding employment opportunities for those who were convicted of crimes in the past but have paid their debt to society and are seeking a path forward; or providing financial capability counseling that helps families to better their financial position, these are all examples of ways we can keep this industry moving forward and serving its members more effectively,” Hood said. “Those are solutions we should be embracing, one community at a time.”
The NCUA chairman said Destinations CU is now one of more than 2,500 low-income-designated credit unions across the country. By contrast, he noted, in 1990 there were only 184 low-income designated credit unions. “So their growth has been remarkable,” he said. “The reason for this growth is simple: these credit unions work.”