MEDIA, Penn. -
As NCUA rules stand right now, the answer to both those questions is no. "The NCUA would have to rewrite the rules, which now require a (physical) location and defined FOM," said Guy Messick, a CU/CUSO attorney and general counsel for NACUSO.
"The whole field-of-membership issue would have to be looked at. Not that it couldn't be done, and I don't think it's so far out there. The challenge will be to fit the CU into an FOM chartering option that might work," said Messick.
Right now, he added, credit unions are looking to find an Internet solution to grow membership in the younger demographic, the 16 to 30 age group, he explained.
Gen-Y is Net-savvy and comfortable with conducting financial transactions in cyberspace.
"They may be considering a separate credit union website for that age group that is different and more appealing; it'll be a different brand altogether while still being part of the original CU. It could even be a dba (doing business as)," he noted. And that dba might even have multiple credit unions behind it. "The point is that it would have a very different look and feel."
So just how far has this concept gone from idea to possibility? NCUA Director of Public and Congressional Affairs John Mckechnie offered only this tantalizing nugget as a response to the query: "The matters are currently under review."
