The NCUA on Thursday said that two-thirds of the 1,003 credit unions offered the eligibility to become a low-income credit union have accepted.
The offer was made two months ago as part of a drought relief package from the Obama administration. LICU designation brings with it an exemption from the 12.25% member business lending cap, as well as eligibility for Community Develop Revolving Loan Fund grants and loans, and the ability to obtain supplemental capital and accept non-member deposits from any source.
The 676 newly designated LICUs combined serve more than 7.7 million members and have more than $66 billion in assets. There now are a total of 1,874 credit unions with the LICU designation, the NCUA said.
"We have had a very positive response to our low-income credit union eligibility initiative," said NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz. "By streamlining the application process, we are expanding opportunities and access to capital for millions of credit union members."
The agency said 326 of the federal credit unions that accepted the LICU designation are headquartered in states affected by the drought and that more than 80% of them had less than $100 million in assets, with a median size of $23.8 million.
The agency has posted a list of the newly designated LICUs online.
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