Faith-based credit unions embrace the power of collaboration.

NCUA awarded $3.7 million in grants and no-interest loans to 162 low-income credit unions, helping them provide affordable financial services to their members and communities during the pandemic. These included NCUA 153 grants totaling nearly $1.5 million and nine no-interest loans of $250,000 each.

The NCUA board passed a final real estate appraisals rule, approved an exemption from the Bank Secrecy Act’s Customer Identification Program and heard a briefing on the new MERIT Examination system at its Thursday meeting.

More than six months into the COVID-19 crisis, the credit union industry continues to face new issues, CUNA wrote to NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood Wednesday reiterating several specific concerns it is hearing from credit unions and members, and including policy recommendations.

NCUA opened its second application round for eligible credit unions that want to qualify to use the agency’s streamlined process for CDFI certification. Federally insured, low-income-designated credit unions can find all the necessary information in the NCUA’s online program guide. The application round closes on Oct. 17.

Credit unions in the path of Tropical Storm Sally are advised to take precautions as the storm intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico, NCUA said Monday. Tropical Storm Sally is expected to hit the central Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane as early as Tuesday morning.

NCUA awarded $75,000 in grants to three low-income, minority depository institution credit unions to support mentoring programs with larger credit unions. The grants were funded through the NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund allocation.

NCUA will receive vote on a final appraisals rule at its Sept. 17 board meeting, among other items on the agenda. The meeting will be a live audio stream available starting at 10 a.m. (ET) on NCUA.gov.

Data on the financial performance of federally insured credit unions for the quarter ending June 30 are now available from NCUA. NCUA’s Quarterly Data Summary Reports include an overview of the quarterly Call Report data as well as tables showing the recent history of major credit union performance indicators.

CUNA anticipates that NCUA moving to more offsite examinations will have a positive impact on the industry, despite an early learning curve and is encouraged by the agency's RFI on future examinations, as it shows an elevated focus on shifting to offsite examinations.