WASHINGTON–CUNA has sent a letter to Congress in response to a letter from the American Bankers Association on the Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act.
The Act was introduced last week but its mark-up has been delayed as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reshuffled the agenda of the House Committee on Financial Services.
In its response, CUNA noted a net of 7,812 bank branches have closed while credit unions opened a net of 1,439 between January 2005 and March 2021, according to research.
“The bankers’ opposition to this legislation reveals their true colors: first they abandon underserved communities and then they try to keep credit unions out,” CUNA wrote. “In contrast to bankers’ regard for underserved communities, the Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act will enable credit unions to provide financial services to more communities, which are often areas banks have abandoned or show little interest in serving.”
According to CUNA, the “landmark bill,” the first significant overhaul of the Federal Credit Union Act since 1998, would make several updates to credit union field of membership and member business lending requirements.
The Specifics
CUNA noted that specifically, the bill would:
- Allow all federal credit unions to add underserved areas to their field of membership
- Exempt business loans made by credit unions in underserved areas from the credit union member business lending cap.
- Expand the definition of an underserved area to include any area that is more than 10 miles from the nearest branch of a financial institution.
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