The text of the CUNA-League-led Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act (H.R. 7003) is included in the Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act (H.R. 2543), which the House will consider this week. H.R. 7003 would be the most significant update of the Federal Credit Union Act since 1998.

H.R. 7003 passed the House Financial Services Committee as a standalone bill in May.

CUNA, Leagues, credit unions, and system partners strongly support the bill, with CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle calling it “a commonsense market-based solution to reach the nearly one in five households that are un- or underbanked across the country.”

The provisions from H.R. 7003 would:

• Allow all federal credit unions to add underserved areas to their field of membership.
• Exempt business loans made by credit unions in underserved areas from the credit union member business lending cap.
• Expand the definition of an underserved area to include New Markets Tax Credit areas and any area that is more than ten miles from the nearest financial institution branch.