Two CUs and Check Cashers Make Strange Bedfellows In 2002

NEW YORK – Two credit unions in New York broke new ground in 2002 by starting relationships with Manhattan check cashers. Under the arrangement, which needed approval from the New York State banking authorities, members of the $9.6 million Bethex Federal Credit Union, based in the Bronx, and the $68 million Actors’ Federal Credit Union, based in Manhattan, began making deposits into their accounts through three check-cashing stores. For the credit unions and their members, the convenience of having more hours in which to bank and the ability to deposit checks without facing a hold outweighed any distaste they might feel for check-cashers’ reputations. The New York development was only a facet of the story as credit unions around the country began taking a greater interest in offering check cashing to the public. While the results are only preliminary, a consensus appeared to build that in the areas where credit unions had actually tried it, that check cashing involves more than just cashing the public’s checks at credit union teller