NCUA sent a letter to credit unions (20-FCU-01) this week adjusting the operating fee scheduled for 2020. Included in the schedule is a link to NCUA’s online calculator for federal credit unions to calculate the exact amount owed in 2020.

The average operating fee rate increase for 2020 is 1.13%, which is a result of two main factors: the overhead transfer rate (OTR) level and changes in NCUA’s capital investment program.

Each year NCUA determines how much of the agency’s operating budget is funded by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. Generally, if the OTR decreases, the operating fee collected from federal credit unions increases, and vice versa.

For 2020, the OTR increased from 60.5%t to 61.3%, which decreased the operating fee. However, the operating fee increased because of the increased cash needs for capital investments planned for 2020, as well as the increased budget level.

Additional discussion of the OTR and detailed information about the NCUA budget are available on the Budget and Strategy page of the NCUA website.

According to NCUA, federal credit unions with assets of more than $1 million will receive an invoice for their 2020 operating fee in March. The fee will be based on assets reported as of Dec. 31, 2019.

At the same time, all federally insured credit unions will be notified of any adjustments needed to maintain their Share Insurance Fund capitalization deposits at one percent of insured shares, as required by the Federal Credit Union Act. A credit union’s capitalization deposit may be adjusted up or down, based on insured shares reported as of December 31, 2019.

Then NCUA will combine operating fee and capitalization deposit adjustments into a single invoice. Payment will be due no later than April 15.