ALEXANDRIA—NCUA Vice Chairman Rick Metsger has issued a statement reiterating his position that “modernizing field-of-membership regulations is the most important issue for the long-term health of America’s credit unions.”
As CUToday.info reported here, Metsger hosted a session during CUNA’s GAC at which federally chartered credit unions complained that FOM restrictions are impacting their ability to grow.
“The last time federal field-of-membership rules were significantly overhauled, online and mobile services were a novelty,” said Metsger, who has been raising the issue for some time. “Now it’s 2015, and people are as likely to define their common bonds by their social media connections as by where they live or work. States have done a better job than the federal government of keeping pace with changes in the marketplace. It’s time for us to catch up.”
Some of the requests made by FCUs regarding FOM included:
- Simplifying field-of-membership processing
- Modifying the meaning of “well-defined local community”
- Allowing credit unions to serve additional rural and underserved communities
- Allowing credit unions with multiple select employee groups to serve independent contractors
- Grandfathering select employee groups at credit unions that convert to community charters.
The agency has created a dedicated e-mail, FOMSuggestions@ncua.gov, to make it easier to submit more suggestions. Last year, NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz created a special internal Field-of-Membership Working Group to consider ideas for enhancing federal charters. Metsger said the Working Group will review suggestions to help determine what steps NCUA can take administratively and what changes require Congress to amend the Federal Credit Union Act.