The South Carolina House of Representatives today passed S. 0467, bringing to fruition a multi-year campaign by the Carolinas Credit Union League to improve the business climate for credit unions through substantial changes to the SC Credit Union Act. The bill was first passed by the SC Senate on March 9 and now awaits the signature of Governor Henry McMaster.

The measure, which provides for broader impact across the state’s financial services environment, benefits credit unions by:

• Simplifying approval/denial of credit union membership;
• Changing the minimum required frequency of board meetings from monthly to quarterly;
• Codifying state law to have an official process of a conversion from a federal to state charter; and
• Changing the required affirmative votes for conversion from 2/3 of membership to a majority.

League-facilitated passage of S. 337 in 2018 initiated long-overdue modernizations of the state credit union charter, most notably updating field-of-membership rules by defining community groups. It also provided parity with federal credit unions in:

• Check-cashing and remittance services for non-members;
• Board meeting participation via conference call or other electronic means;
• Fixed assets; and
• Authority to have charitable donation accounts.

The League has since worked with SC Senate Banking Chairman Ronnie Cromer, SC House LCI Chairman Bill Sandifer, the SC Board of Financial Institutions, SC Banking Commissioner Rick Green, SC State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, and banking associations to craft the latest changes. As a result, Sen. Cromer introduced S. 0467 on January 13, 2021.

“After passing the most substantial updates to the SC Credit Union Act in over twenty years in 2018, we wanted to continue our momentum in making improvements for our state-chartered credit unions.” League President and CEO Dan Schline said. “Our relationships have been vital in navigating the pathway to success, and we appreciated the opportunity to work with Senate Banking & Insurance Chairman Ronnie Cromer, House LCI Chairman Bill Sandifer, and representatives from the SC Banking Commission.”