A new federal credit union chartered late last month in Kendall Park, N.J., to serve a local Islamic community will offer its members non-interest-bearing consumer loans, among other services, the federal credit union regulator announced Wednesday.
Maun Federal Credit Union (FCU) will be an Islamic-faith-based, no-interest credit union whose not-for-profit, cooperative business model will fill a need for affordable, federally insured financial services among members of its community, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) said in a release. The credit union will serve employees and members of the New Brunswick Islamic Center in New Brunswick, N.J., and employees and members of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey in Monmouth Junction, N.J.
The first federal credit union chartered in 2021, Maun FCU, whose charter became effective April 26, expects to open in June, the NCUA said.
Maun FCU has a mentoring agreement with Jafari No-Interest Credit Union, a federally insured, state-chartered credit union in Houston, Texas, which has a similar no-interest, fee-based business model, the NCUA said. The agency said that Jafari provided assistance with the business plan and policy development during Maun’s charter application process.
The NCUA noted that during its first year of operations, Maun will focus on non-interest-bearing consumer loans and offer its membership share savings accounts, direct deposit, ACH transfers, wire transfer services, and notary services.
“The organizers of Maun Federal Credit Union have worked hard to make this day possible,” NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper said in Wednesday’s release. “Appropriately enough, ‘Maun’ means ‘small kindness,’ which is an apt way of describing a credit union’s mission. The organizers recognized the unmet need for financial services in their community and set about to create a solution through the credit union cooperative business model, tailored specifically for their members. I am pleased we were able to help them fulfill their vision.”