First new federal credit union in ’23 chartered; will serve HBCU-founded sorority members, families

A fraternal organization founded at a historically black university will now have its own credit union following the federal credit union regulator’s approval of a new charter, the agency said Thursday.

Members Only Federal Credit Union (FCU) will serve members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA), Inc., the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) said in a release, which added that the credit union will be based in Chicago.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The new credit union will serve the sorority’s members, their families, and the organization’s employees. NCUA said the fraternal group counts 350,000 members in more than 1,061 graduate and undergraduate chapters in the U.S., U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Japan, Liberia, and South Korea.

The charter for the FCU, the first issued this year, was officially issued Feb. 3, the NCUA said. Operations are expected to commence sometime later in the year. Among the expected service and product offerings, the NCUA said, are share (savings) accounts, share draft (checking) accounts, online banking, direct deposit, debit cards, and personal loans.

NCUA Charters For Members Only Federal Credit Union