CUs provide protections not present in proposed FedAccounts

While credit unions agree with the spirit of a proposed to provide monthly stimulus payments to be distributed to direct deposit to a new, Fed-backed account, CUNA believes Americans would best be served by leveraging the system currently in place.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, has proposed monthly stimulus payments that would go to “FedAccounts,” and other similar past proposals have included utilizing the post office for similar deposit accounts.

“There is no need to pass legislation requiring the Federal Reserve or the United State Postal Service to provide products and services that the organizations were not designed to provide. Instead, Congress should be using its public platform to encourage all consumers, especially the most vulnerable among us, to seek out financial services from a community-based, not-for-profit credit union,” the letter reads. “As the nation’s original consumer protectors, credit unions have a long history of providing affordable, responsible access to banking services.”

 

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