LOWELL, Mass. – Now, members of at least one credit union will be able to access the funds they have borrowed in a home equity line of credit in a more efficient and easy way. The $600 million Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union has begun offering its 40,000 members a debit card linked not to a checking account but to a home equity line of credit (HELOC). This will allow members to use the card everywhere that MasterCard is accepted and to not have to use the checks that are more often the way the loan funds are accessed, the credit union said. "The introduction of the new JDCU Heloc Debit Card is the most exciting enhancement we've offered our members since the introduction of our traditional MasterCard Debit Card in 1999." stated Paul Mayotte, CEO of Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union. "Increasingly, banking is about convenience, and we believe that financial institutions that make their members' or customers' lives easier and simpler are the ones that will succeed. We feel that this provides our members with a high level of convenience and will become an extremely popular item with homeowners."