Bill to allow lower-income residents to join CUs passes N.C. House

The North Carolina House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass House Bill 410, “Credit Union Update” by an 85-25 margin. The bill grants permission to credit unions to accept as members people below the poverty line and residents of banking deserts.

Banks have closed more than 600 branches since 2011, many of them in rural parts of the state. Credit unions, which are not-for-profit cooperatives, have the right model and the desire to serve North Carolinians with dwindling financial services options. House Bill 410 would permit them to do so.

“I thank legislators for their support in granting permission to credit unions to serve consumers of modest means. Not-for-profit credit unions have served North Carolinians humbly and faithfully for more than 100 years, and we wish to continue that history," said Carolinas Credit Union League President/CEO Dan Schline. 

The bill extends membership only to those living below the poverty line and residents of “banking deserts,” defined as areas without a bank branch within roughly 200 square miles.

 In addition to offering financial services to rural residents, House Bill 410 also:

• Modernizes some credit union laws that haven’t been updated since the 1970s. For example, it allows credit unions to keep records electronically.
• Streamlines the process through which state-chartered credit unions can gain permission to operate in ways already allowable for federally-chartered credit unions.
• Strengthens the powers of the North Carolina’s credit union regulator, which also haven’t been updated since the 1970s.