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Hyland Transmits Outreach Task Force Report to NCUA Board

February 26, 2008, Alexandria, VA – National Credit Union Administration Board Member Gigi Hyland today formally presented the Outreach Task Force Report to the NCUA Board.   

“The report identifies serious, specific recommendations to help federal credit unions serve consumers across all parts of their fields of membership, consistent with the purpose set forth in the preamble to the Federal Credit Union Act,” said Board Member Hyland, who was appointed Chair of the Outreach Task Force in 2006. 

The Outreach Task Force was created by NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson subsequent to receiving the 2006 Member Service Assessment Pilot Program (MSAP) Report, which was the NCUA response to questions raised by Congress and the Government Accountability Office regarding federal credit union fulfillment of their mission and purpose.  The MSAP Report concluded that federal credit unions are succeeding in serving those they are chartered to serve, but given greater scope and opportunity, federal credit unions can improve the availability of financial services to low and moderate income consumers and those living in underserved areas.

The Outreach Task Force’s mission was threefold:

1. Evaluate and determine the appropriateness of three recommendations from the agency’s 2006 Member Service Assessment Pilot Program: A Study of Federal Credit Union Service;
2. Assess the agency’s current role and efforts with respect to credit union service to their members; and
3. Assess the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office in its 2006 report (GAO-07-29).

The process involved an extensive review of NCUA policies and procedures in four areas: collection of membership profile and financial services data; senior executive compensation; low-income definition; and outreach.  In addition, the Outreach Task Force heard a variety of viewpoints through its six public Town Hall meetings held in Cincinnati, OH, Boston, MA, New Orleans, LA, Los Angeles, CA, Denver, CO, and Washington, DC from April through October 2007.  Board Member Hyland also held dozens of other meetings to discuss the Task Force's efforts during her numerous visits around the country.

“I am grateful to those who attended the Town Hall meetings and contributed to the frank and practical discussion regarding issues most significant to credit union members. The Task Force considered their insights invaluable while constructing this report,” stated Board Member Hyland. 

The Outreach Task Force provided to the NCUA board the following twelve recommendations: 

Membership Profile and Financial Services

• Collect membership profile data through the AIRES examination process;
• Collect financial services data on the 5300 Call Report;
• Publish aggregate data on membership profile and financial services in the NCUA Annual Report or other publication(s); and
• Develop a means for each FCU to obtain its proprietary membership profile data from NCUA.

Senior Executive Officer Compensation

• Collect FCU and federal corporate credit union senior executive officer compensation during the examination, and then use AIRES and the Corporate Examination Database to capture the information;
• Publish aggregate data on senior executive officer compensation in the Annual Report or other NCUA publication(s); and
• Promulgate a regulation requiring FCUs and federal corporate credit unions to annually disclose individual senior executive officer compensation to their members.

Low-Income Definition

• Revise NCUA Rules and Regulations to replace MHI with MFI as one of the standards for qualifying a credit union as low income; and
• Include a grandfather provision of five years to allow adequate transition time for any low-income credit union failing to qualify under the MFI standard.

Outreach

• Expand its outreach program(s) to include a broader spectrum of credit unions serving, or having the ability to serve, members of low or moderate income;
• Emphasize increased regional involvement in the implementation of outreach policies; and
• Improve its oversight of Community Development Revolving Loan Fund programs.

The complete text of the Outreach Task Force Report is available online at http://www.ncua.gov/ReportsAndPlans/index.htm.

The National Credit Union Administration charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, with the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the accounts of over 85 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the majority of state-chartered credit unions.  NCUA is funded by credit unions, not federal tax dollars.