NAFCU details concerns ahead of HFSC markup of critical CU bills
The House Financial Services Committee today will convene for a markup to discuss several pieces of legislation, including three bills that affect the credit union industry: the NAFCU-backed Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act and Close the ILC Loophole Act and the NAFCU-opposed Strengthening Cyber-Security for the Financial Sector Act. Ahead of the markup, NAFCU’s Brad Thaler wrote to the committee to reiterate the concerns of the credit union industry and advocate on behalf of credit unions and their 130 million members.
H.R. 7003, the Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act
The NAFCU-backed bill would allow all types of federal credit unions to add underserved areas to their field of membership; and adds “banking deserts,” areas not within 10 miles of a branch of a financial institution, to the definition of an underserved area. In addition, this necessary legislation also exempts member business loans (MBL) made by credit unions in underserved areas from the MBL cap.
Thaler, NAFCU’s vice president of legislative affairs, noted that many credit unions “want to do more to help underserved areas as banks abandon them and passing H.R. 7003 to help credit unions fill the void.” However, he also notes that the legislation does not directly grant underserved areas to credit unions, but rather it allows them to apply to the NCUA to add these areas should they meet the necessary criteria.
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