Shiloh granted expansion to serve underserved community

ALEXANDRIA, Va.- In a special ceremony for the most recent faith-based credit union in America to take advantage of NCUA’s streamlined process to adopt low-income, underserved communities, Acting NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar will present a federal certificate to Shiloh of Alexandria Federal Credit Union August 31. Shiloh Baptist Church sponsors the 604-member federal credit union established in 1993. The expansion would push potential membership up by the 3,500 residents of the surrounding community. Dollar said NCUA’s new streamlined process allowed Shiloh to adopt the underserved area in a matter of months, while before it could have taken years. “We believe faith-based credit unions, along with community development credit unions and traditional credit unions who are choosing to expand into underserved communities in record numbers, are a part of the solution to the predatory lending problem in some of these low-income neighborhoods,” Dollar remarked. “Without these credit unions, some would be left with few neighborhood options other than a pawn shop or check cashing outlet. We need to encourage more extension of credit union services into these underserved areas.” Currently, 500 faith-based credit unions are in operation in the U.S. with assets topping $2 billion.