MADISON, Wis.–The Filene Research Institute has released some of the results from its ongoing Non-Citizen Lending Program, one of five programs that are being tested as part of Filene’s “Reaching Minority Households” incubator project.
The goal of all the programs is to advance access to financial services for minority groups and other financially vulnerable populations.
Of the 35 CUs that are participating in the incubators 13 are testing the Non-Citizen Lending Program, which offers a variety of consumer lending products, including credit cards, personal loans, and vehicle loans, to non-citizens with the same rates as traditional consumer lending products.
“There are 42 million immigrants in the U.S., including foreign born citizens, refugees, lawful permanent residents, and undocumented immigrants; all coming from nearly every country in the world,” Filene observed. “Being foreign born is what technically defines this group, but there are other designations that make these individuals and families a part of who we are as a country. They can also be defined as parents, students, teachers, laborers, U.S. soldiers, and civic leaders. They can be defined as invaluable members of our society, woven into the fabric of our neighborhoods, our communities, and our nation. They are our neighbors and credit unions are refusing to leave them without access to fairly-priced and non-predatory financial products and services as they pursue their own American Dream.”
Through Dec. 31, 2016, the total loans issued through the program was 748. The total value of loans issued was $8,924,249
“Many of the participating credit unions have only just begun to test this program among their member base, yet for many, early results seem promising,” Filene said. “The numbers clearly show that many credit union members need these types of financial products and the credit union community supports their availability.”
Participating CUs include Alliance Catholic Credit Union; Cherokee County Federal Credit Union; El Paso Area Teachers Federal Credit Union; Illiana Financial Credit Union; Kern Federal Credit Union; Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union; Manatee Community Federal Credit Union; Members Credit Union; Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union; North Side Community Federal Credit Union; Point West Credit Union; Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, and Wakota Federal Credit Union
For info: www.filene.org.