ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Credit unions believe in second chances, according to America’s Credit Unions.
Writing in response to NCUA’s proposal for complying with the Fair Hiring in Banking Act, which was included as part of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, America’s CUs said it agrees with the idea of doing away with the lifetime ban on working in credit unions for those with certain disqualifying convictions, as well as the proposal to create an exception for criminal acts committed before the age of 21.
ACU’s Amanda Smith said in the letter that “credit unions embody the second chance philosophy and serve a number of populations that may be disenfranchised or unbanked.”
Smith noted that the NCUA had worked to address hiring issues prior but added that the FHBA extends greater relief to certain individuals.
Consent Sought
However, she said some credit unions “indicate that the reluctance to hire candidates with criminal records may be more strongly influenced by both the need to gain consent from the NCUA board and the potential bondability of the candidate than concerns regarding the criminal offense.”
Smith requested that the agency consider removing some of the stricter requirements for background information, as they may be difficult to obtain.
Finally, Smith called on NCUA to closely monitor how the bill might impact underwriting for fidelity bonds and the potential changes of “the affordability of employment for credit unions, especially smaller institutions.”
The Best Way to Start a New Year. With Something Free.
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?