The National Credit Union Administration voted Thursday to survey credit unions about their efforts to serve the poor.
Board Member Yolanda T. Wheat, who proposed the voluntary survey, said she hopes it will resolve the question of whether credit unions pay enough attention to low-income people and "underserved" communities in general.
"I think this is an important discussion for us to be having," Ms. Wheat said. "What it lacks is any factual information."
The 11-question survey will be mailed to chief executive officers of the more than 6,000 federally chartered credit unions early next year. Banks, which have to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act, have long demanded that these competitors be subject to similar requirements.
By recommending the survey, Ms. Wheat put herself squarely between her two fellow board members on the issue. NCUA Chairman Norman E. D'Amours said that many credit unions are not doing enough to help the poor, and that he has tried without success to require the nonprofits to include outreach strategies in their business plans.
In voting against the survey after his proposal to make it mandatory failed, Mr. D'Amours called the idea "a sham that no self-respecting researcher would give any credence to."
"I cannot, in any good conscience, support a volunteer survey," he said. "Those that are not making any effort to serve low-income consumers will simply not respond."
Board Member Dennis Dollar insists that credit unions are already doing their part, but he voted for the questionnaire anyway. "This voluntary survey should help demonstrate that credit unions are indeed extending service to the underserved but could do more if NCUA were to remove unnecessary regulatory hurdles," said Mr. Dollar, a vocal advocate of regulatory relief.
Also Thursday, the board budgeted $50,000 to create a national data base of underserved communities, such as federally designated enterprise zones. Under the plan, NCUA examiners would encourage the nonprofits to add these communities to their membership pools.
