Calif. CUs Seek Broad FOMs

State chartered credit unions continue to seek authority to serve large communities but have restrained some of their efforts over the past six months. Information obtained by The Credit Union Journal under the state's Public Information Act shows that fast-growing Provident Central CU, Redwood City, has applied to the Department of Financial Institutions to serve two million residents in the city of Sacramento and Monterey County.

Also, Pacific Resource CU, Los Angeles, has requested permission to serve more than 350,000 residents in five Los Angeles suburbs. The Golden 1 CU recently obtained approval to serve all 125,000 residents of Napa County, the 22nd county covered by the state's largest credit union. Still, there are few of the large FOM applications to serve multi- million populations before the DFI, and three year-old applications exceeding six million residents are still pending before the state regulator.