“Credit unions will never apologize for putting people over profit,” America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle and African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) President/CEO Renee Sattiewhite wrote in CUInsight Friday.
“The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was created to protect minority and low-income communities from the damage done by redlining and other discriminatory practices from banks,” they wrote. “Credit unions’ mission and structure already accomplishes what the CRA is designed to achieve: get financial services to those banks have left behind.
“Applying CRA requirements to credit unions—and their limited fields of membership—means shifting resources away from members and communities,” they added.
The positive impact credit unions provide to their 140 million member-owners is undeniable, despite claims to the contrary.
Credit unions delivered more than $25 billion in benefits in 2022 alone, Nussle and Sattiewhite highlighted, adding that non-members saw $4 billion in benefits solely due to credit unions’ competitive presence in the market.
“Pushing for federal legislation that will stifle credit union growth, out of fear of increased competition, will only hurt the communities credit unions aim to serve,” they wrote. “Outdated field of membership restrictions, arbitrary member business lending caps, illogical fee restrictions, and other ill-informed policy barriers will keep safe and affordable credit union services from those who need them most. Congress and regulators can remove these barriers.”
