Matz to meet with credit union leaders on data collection

<p>WASHINGTON – NCUA Board member Deborah Matz is scheduling two meetings in upcoming weeks designed to help credit unions better serve low-income and underserved members and potential members. When she abstained from the NCUA Board vote overturning the CAP regulation, Matz anticipated a “roundtable” with credit union leaders through which credit union leaders could discuss how to document what credit unions do for low-income members and underserved potential members. Credit unions need to do this both to evaluate their current efforts and determine where to place their resources in future efforts, Matz said, as well as demonstrate to outside observers, including Congress, the impact they are having. “The data does need to be collected. The NCUA may not be the institution that needs to be collecting it, but it does need to be collected,” said Matz. She also spoke firmly on the need to have the data be “more than anecdotal.” Matz said that she has spoken with CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica and NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker about the meeting and that she plans to invite the other NCUA Board members and Cliff Rosenthal, president of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, to participate. An NCUA source indicated that no date for the meeting had been specified but that the agency was working on a June timeframe because of Matz’ busy travel schedule. Matz also has a meeting scheduled for May 14 which will involve credit union leaders and NCUA examiners about the role the examiners have been playing in either encouraging or discouraging credit unions from getting involved with higher risk efforts to help the underserved and low-income members. “Several credit unions have mentioned that NCUA examiners have discouraged them from making higher risk moves that might be needed to serve lower income members,” Matz said. “Examiners I have spoken with deny this, so I am interested in getting everyone together where we can talk about it.” Becker is optimistic about the meeting but cautious about the outcome since Matz has only spoken with him about the meeting in general, and not specific, terms. He drew a distinction between mortgage lending data and data about products and services like, for example, checking accounts, implying that credit unions keep mortgage lending data while they might not keep other types of data. “There may be a limit to what credit unions are able to do by way of breaking out data,” Becker said. “I am not sure how many credit unions know the income levels of the members who have checking accounts. Some credit unions may have that data, but others might not.” Mica said that CUNA had no specific proposals for the meeting but that they were committed to attending. “I think we do an awful good job serving our full membership but not as good a job telling people about what it is we are doing,” Mica said. Mica also said that he had heard “anecdotally for years” that NCUA examiners were not always as supportive of credit unions’ efforts to reach out to the poor and underserved when those efforts have meant taking steps deemed higher risk. Mica said he brought the topic of the degree of examiner support up to former NCUA Chair Norm D’Amours, but it had “fallen on deaf ears.” Now it appeared the agency would be willing to discuss the subject, Mica said.</p>