The American Bankers Association filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday in the case American Bankers Association v. National Credit Union Administration. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the American Bankers Association’s appeal for a rehearing en banc in December, upholding NCUA’s field of membership modernizations.

“It’s unfortunate that a banking trade is engaged in a campaign to undercut the NCUA’s efforts to ensure the financial well-being of consumers across the country,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “We fully believe the lower court made the right decision in allowing the NCUA’s field of membership rule to stand, thereby allowing credit unions to deliver not-for-profit financial services to more consumers across the country. We remain committed to defending NCUA’s authority to regulate the credit union movement, and look forward to an end to this multi-year push from the banks to prevent credit unions continuing to evolve in how they serve American consumers.”

In August 2019, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the previous opinion by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, thereby allowing credit unions to serve Combined Statistical Areas of up to 2.5 million people and rural districts with up to one million people.