WASHINGTON–The House has voted in favor of a conference report that strikes a provision credit unions said would be harmful to military CUs under the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Credit unions will continue to be able to meet the financial services needs of personnel on the bases operating as they currently do.
Following the striking of the provision, CUNA noted it wrote a letter opposing the provision as it would ultimately hurt credit unions while granting access to banks at the same bases, the trade group said.
"We thank House leadership for keeping this ambiguous language out of the NDAA," said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle in a statement. “Some of the largest credit unions in the world serve primarily veterans, members of the U.S. military, and their families. It is critical that we continue our mission of providing affordable financial services to meet the needs of military members.”
Under Section 124 of the Federal Credit Union Act, on-base credit unions are exempt from costs related to leases, utilities and services for the furnishing of office space and land.
Pushing for Change
Credit unions had been advocating for the change, noting that Section 2808 of the House version of NDAA was designed to treat federal- and state-chartered insured depository institutions equally, but the legislative definition excluded credit unions.
"We look forward to working with the Armed Services committees in the House and Senate in restoring the overall Military Banking Program so that Defense Credit Unions can continue to serve our military members and their families while protecting them from predatory lending practices outside the gate," said Defense Credit Union Council President/CEO Anthony Hernandez in a statement.