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Board Member Hyland To Address Consumer Hotlines On Radio Broadcast

February 14, 2008, Alexandria, Va. -- NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland is participating in the Home and Family Finance™ radio program, sponsored by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). Taped this week, the program is hosted by renowned broadcaster Paul Berry. It will air at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 17 and can be heard on www.radioamerica.org, or later that week on www.cuna.org/initiatives.hff_radio. 

The show focuses on providing consumer finance information and advice to a general audience, and it will be broadcast worldwide on the Armed Forces Radio Network. Also participating in the broadcast are Stephen Brobeck of the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Ruth Susswein of Consumer Action.

During her segment of the broadcast, Board Member Hyland informs the audience of the role of NCUA. She addresses how consumers can seek redress for complaints they may have about their credit union, and she urges consumers to aggressively pursue such complaints, indicating that it is through such communication that the NCUA Board is able to form the basis of future public and supervisory policy decisions.

Addressing the first step in the process, Hyland urges listeners to start by airing their complaint with officials at their credit union. If consumers prefer not to speak to anyone there or they remain unsatisfied, they can contact a regional NCUA office, call NCUA’s toll-free consumer assistance number to speak to someone in NCUA’s central office, or send a letter or e-mail. In addition, Hyland noted that Congress is currently considering legislation that would address possible consumer confusion over which agency to call with their complaints by establishing a central toll-free number that would result in the call being steered to the appropriate regulatory agency.

The National Credit Union Administration is the independent federal agency that regulates charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, with the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, also operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), insuring the deposits of over 86 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the majority of state-chartered credit unions.

-NCUA-