CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle followed up CUNA’s Sept. 16 letter to NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood Tuesday with a conversation highlighting additional credit union needs in the face of the pandemic and economic recovery.

“I thank Chairman Hood for his time today and for his continuing outreach to credit unions and the CUNA/League system as we all work together to get 120 million credit union members through this pandemic,” Nussle said. “More than six months into this crisis, credit unions continue to face and meet challenges head on, and I provided Chairman Hood with suggestions we’ve received during our engagement, as well as policy recommendations to remove barriers to member service.”

During the call, Hood expressed his strong support and eagerness to help credit unions effectively provide products and services to members in a safe and sound manner, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery.

CUNA looks forward to continuing to communicate thoughts and credit union feedback to Hood as NCUA moves forward with their policy goals to help credit unions in the coming months and next year.

CUNA’s Sept. 16 letter to NCUA asked the agency to:

• Explore ways to reduce the denominator of the net worth ratio, including by excluding zero- and low-risk assets from the net worth ratio calculation;
• Permit credit unions to capitalize interest on consumer mortgage loans in connection with loan modifications made during the pandemic;
• Further delay the effective date of the risk-based capital rule to, at earliest, Jan. 1, 2023;
• Forbear on any assessments;
• Revisit the recently tabled interim final rule on overdraft policy that would allow credit unions to adopt reasonable, flexible policies for members to resolve overdrawn accounts rather than the current 45-day time limit; and
• Issue an interim final rule eliminating the requirement that a borrower be a member of a credit union for at least one month before receiving a Payday Alternative Loan I (PAL I).