Hunt urges NCUA to refrain from disclosing certain overdraft/NSF data

The NCUA should refrain from publicly disclosing certain data collected in the latest call report, America’s Credit Unions Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt wrote to all three NCUA board members Friday. NCUA recently revised its call report to require credit unions above $1 billion in assets to report overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees, effective as of March 31.

“Data on these fees should not be released publicly. Instead, the NCUA Board should further evaluate the legal and reputational risks that credit unions may face and delay the release of such information,” Hunt wrote.

Hunt added that this information will likely be spun in a misleading and potentially inaccurate way, as has happened with the release of certain overdraft/NSF fees charged by California credit unions and banks.

“If the Board is unwilling to prevent disclosure of this fee data indefinitely, we urge, at a minimum, the agency to delay such disclosure until after it has sufficiently assessed the legal and policy concerns with releasing such information,” she added.

America’s Credit Unions has raised concerns regarding the process through which these changes have been made, noting that the NCUA should not pursue significant changes without at least two quarters’ notice to the industry.

heelo