In the wake of the resolution of the court case challenging the National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) field of membership rule, the agency announced it would work to help credit unions impacted by the process.
A challenge from the American Bankers Association (ABA) led to the removal of rural districts for 18 credit unions, and NCUA announced it was in the process of reinstating those districts.
“On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court denied the American Bankers Association’s petition to review the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision on the NCUA’s field of membership rules. This ends nearly four years of uncertainty and helps the NCUA foster greater financial inclusion for all Americans,” NCUA stated.
In the process, the appellate court in the District of Columbia had ruled that some communities were not within the field of membership rule, and 18 credit unions had those rural districts removed. NCUA said it would work to reinstate the districts.
“The lack of financial access is especially prevalent in rural communities, which have experienced the withdrawal of financial institutions over the last decade. The Supreme Court’s decision will assist the agency’s efforts to bring these important and often overlooked communities back into the financial mainstream,” NCUA stated. “The NCUA is in the process of reinstating the rural districts for 18 credit unions that had these removed due to the ABA lawsuit.”
The NCUA’s Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion was set to contact these credit unions by July 10 to confirm the reinstatement, the agency said, and no further action would be required for these credit unions.
“For any federal credit union with a rural district field of membership application held during the litigation period, the NCUA will resume processing these applications, immediately,” NCUA stated. “The NCUA will also begin accepting rural district field of membership applications, immediately. Federal credit unions with a rural district community charter are eligible to apply.”
A proposed area generally would qualify as a rural district if it has well-defined, contiguous geographic boundaries, and the total population of the proposed district does not exceed 1 million.