The Times-Picayune in New Orleans highlighted a new branch planned by ASI FCU that will be bilingual and will target Latino workers. The story noted that among those eligible for service will be undocumented workers who are in the U.S. illegally, with the story quoting New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calling such workers “walking ATMs” for robbers. “Now ASI, a 46-year-old nonprofit agency whose mission includes helping underserved groups, is offering these workers a way to protect their money and themselves: savings accounts from which they can make withdrawals using an ATM card,” the story said.
In the Boston Herald, columnist Jay Fitzgerald pointed to quotes from Citizens Bank Chairman Lawrence Fish calling for credit unions and Internet banks to comply with CRA. The story quoted Fish as calling CRA “one of the most powerful forces for economic progress in this country.” Fitzgerald provided a response from Dan Egan, Massachusetts CU League CEO, who was quoted as saying, “credit unions were not involved in the type of (discriminatory) lending that brought about the CRA.”
