Number of CDFI Credit Unions Reaches 531

Santa Clara County Federal Credit Union in the heart of Silicon Valley announced Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department has certified it as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a designation increasingly dominated by credit unions.

Santa Clara County FCU of San Jose, Calif. ($963.2 million, 47,787 members) was one of 39 credit unions receiving CDFI certification in May for their commitment to providing financial services to underserved communities, according to Inclusiv, which represents CDFI credit unions. As of May, credit unions accounted for 531 of the nation’s 1,432 CDFIs.

Rebecca Reynolds Lytle, president/CEO of Santa Clara County FCU, said the CDFI certification will allow the credit union to access to new funding opportunities to serve low-income members.

“CDFI-certified organizations put the community first and value local economic growth,” Lytle said.

“The credit union is committed to providing more affordable loans and financial services to our community,” she said. “With access to the CDFI Fund’s grant program, we will have greater opportunity to serve and support members in underserved areas in both Santa Clara and San Benito counties.”

Congress created the CDFI Fund in 1994 to promote economic revitalization and community development through its certified institutions.

The number of CDFI credit unions has risen from 123 in 2008, and 341 of 1,163 total CDFIs in December 2020.

According to Inclusiv, credit union CDFIs were typically small before the Great Recession. The 163 credit union CDFIs in 2008 had 690,000 members and average assets of $29 million. The 531 now have more than 17 million members and average assets of more than $500 million. Inclusiv data showed the assets of current credit union CDFIs exceed those of all other CDFIs: 360 banks, 585 loan funds and 16 venture capital funds.

Santa Clara County FCU is open to county and city employees, students and staff, and other affiliated organizations of Santa Clara and San Benito counties. Census data showed the two million people in those counties typically earn far more than most Americans, and have a lower poverty rate.

Santa Clara County had 1.9 million residents in 2020 with more than half its households earning $140,258 or more in 2021, or double the U.S. median. Median household income for the 64,207 people in San Benito County was $95,606, or 39% higher than the U.S. median of $69,021.

While the U.S. poverty rate was 11.6% in 2021, it was 6.9% in Santa Clara County and 8.9% in San Benito County.