Board Member Hyland Outlines Opportunities at NASCUS Summit
Dana Point, Calif., August 11, 2006 – Board Member Gigi Hyland spoke today before state-chartered credit union attendees of NASCUS’ Advisory Council Meeting and with state regulators at a “regulators only” session. In her remarks, Hyland outlined existing opportunities for credit unions as well as opportunities to collaborate with state regulators. Board Member Hyland serves as the NCUA Board liaison to NASCUS.
“The dual-chartering system is itself an opportunity,” stated Hyland to credit union attendees. “It provides credit unions the flexibility to choose the most appropriate business climate that enables them to meet their primary mission – serving members.”
Hyland outlined several opportunities for today’s credit unions.
- “Regardless of your charter type or whether you are state or federally chartered, your credit union has voluntary and open membership within the context of defined groups, service area or geography. The challenge and opportunity, even in today’s regulatory climate, are to offer services to all segments of that field of membership and to make that membership valuable.”
- “Are you meeting your members’ needs where they are in life? Or, are you meeting the needs you think they have? Your credit union has myriad opportunities to serve Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers, the underserved and retirees. But each group has different needs. Are you serving up membership in a way that appeals to these different groups of members, that offers value the way they define ‘value’?”
- “Members need business loans and member business lending is an opportunity for credit unions to serve this member need. The Federal Credit Union Act (FCUA) limits the percentage of member-business lending that a credit union can do to 12.25% of the credit union’s net worth. As efforts continue to modernize these provisions, there is another opportunity to manifest this credit union tradition – Small Business Administration lending. Qualifying as an SBA Certified and Preferred Lender opens the doors to offering 7(a) and 504 Program loans to members looking to finance their businesses.”
In her dialogue with state regulators, Board Member Hyland outlined opportunities to collaborate with state regulators on common issues facing the credit union system.
“As regulators, our chief mission is ensuring the safety and soundness of the institutions we regulate,” Hyland noted. “This means doing all we can to encourage credit unions to serve their entire fields of membership and offer the innovative products and services members want through the delivery channels they expect. It also means learning from each other as regulators and sharing innovations. If we collaborate, we can address issues facing the credit union system and develop approaches that will help credit unions thrive into the future.”
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 85 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the majority of state-chartered credit unions.
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