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Frequently Asked Questions
Q1 What is a credit union?
Q2 How do I start a credit union?
Q3: Do all credit unions have charter numbers?
Q4: What organization assigns charter numbers?
Q5: If a credit union goes out of business, is the charter number
reissued to a new credit union that comes into existence later?
Q6: Are all credit unions required to report to NCUA? If not, what
types of credit unions do?
Q7: How can I get a complete list of federally insured credit unions?
Q8: How can I get a list of the credit unions that don't report
to NCUA?
Q9: Approximately how many credit unions are there that don't report
to NCUA?
Q10: How current is the data from each cycle? For example, cycle
12/98 would contain data that is reported between which two dates?
Q11: Where can I download NCUA's call report data?
Q12: How do I know when the data is available for downloading?
Q13: What is a CAMEL Rating?
Q14: Where would I find the CAMEL Rating of a credit union?
Q1 What is a credit union?
A1: A federal credit union is a nonprofit, cooperative financial institution owned
and run by its members. Organized to serve, democratically controlled credit unions
provide their members with a safe place to save and borrow at reasonable rates.
Members pool their funds to make loans to one another. The volunteer board that
runs each credit union is elected by the members. Not for profit, not for charity,
but for service is a credit union motto.
More Information About Credit
Unions
Q2 How do I start a credit union?
A2: For immediate details on forming a federal credit union, Chapter 1 in the NCUA
Chartering and Field of Membership Manual can guide you through the steps
to organize a federal credit union and the manual includes the necessary forms.
The National Credit Union Administration charters federal credit unions.
NCUA has six regional offices across the country that charter federal credit unions
in the states that they oversee. To get assistance from an NCUA regional office
to help you form and charter a credit union:
- Go to the Organizational Chart
- Link to the NCUA regional office located in or close to your home state, then
- Contact the appropriate regional office for specifics.
Q3: Do all credit unions have charter numbers?
A3: Yes they all have charter numbers.
Q4: What organization assigns these charter numbers?
A4: We (the National Credit Union Administration -- NCUA) assign them as follows:
1 = Federal (charter numbers 0-59999)
2 =federally Insured State Chartered (charter numbers 60000-79999)
3 = Non-Federally Insured (charter numbers 80000+)
Q5: If a credit union goes out of business, is the charter number
reissued to a new credit union that comes into existence later?
A5: No. NCUA generally issues charter numbers in consecutive order. If a credit
union goes out of business, that charter number is never reused.
Q6: Are all credit unions are required to report to NCUA? If not,
what types of credit unions do?
A6: All federal credit unions and state credit unions that arefederally insured
must report to us. Some non-federally insured credit unions also report to
NCUA at the request of their state regulator.
Q7: How can I get a complete list offederally insured credit unions?
A7: The Credit Union Directory is complete as of December 1998. It is located athttp://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/Directory/cudir.aspx.
Financial Data on individual credit unions can be found at
http://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/FindCU.aspx.
Q8: How can I get a list of the credit unions that don't report
to NCUA?
A8: Only non-federally insured state credit unions are not required to report financial
data to the NCUA. To get a list of them, contact the state regulator in the
states where they are located. These states are Alabama, California, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and Puerto Rico.
Q9: Approximately how many credit unions are there that don't report
to NCUA?
A9: There are currently fewer than 500 non-federally insured state chartered credit
unions.
Q10: How current is the data from each cycle? For example, cycle
12/98 would contain data that is reported between which two dates?
A10: Each cycle's data contains data as of the cycle date. For example, the
December 1998 cycle includes the balance sheet data as of 12/31/98 and the income
statement data for 1/1/98 through 12/31/98. Depending on what the data is,
it may be year-to-date or as of the reporting date.
The entire database is updated when we load data for a current cycle. For
example, the database loaded to the website for the June 1999 cycle will include
all of the December 1998 data as well. This keeps the database current and
allows it to reflect corrections made after the cycle's data was originally posted.
Q11: Where can I download NCUA's call report data?
A11: The entire database can be downloaded at
http://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/FOIA/foia.aspx. Data for individual
credit unions can be found at http://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/FindCU.aspx.
Q12: How do I know when the data is available for downloading?
A12: Scheduled dates for data posting are noted at
http://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/FOIA/foia.aspx or
http://www.ncua.gov/DataServices/FindCU.aspx.
Q13: What is a CAMEL Rating?
A13: CAMEL is an internal rating system used for evaluating the soundness of credit
unions on a uniform basis, the degree of risk to the National Credit Union Share
Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), and for identifying those institutions requiring special
supervisory attention or concern. NCUA Letter to Credit Unions Number:07-CU-12,
CAMEL Rating System issued in December 2007 includes the CAMEL rating system.
Q14: Where would I find the CAMEL Rating of a Credit Union?
A14: CAMEL ratings are confidential and are not published. You may find information
about CAMEL ratings in Letter to Credit Unions Number:07-CU-12 , CAMEL Rating System
issued in December 2007.