Illinois Deposits Funds in Low-Income CUs

CHICAGO – The state Treasurer’s office announced yesterday it will make a non-member deposit of $100,000 into 17 different low-income credit unions in the Chicago area. The 12-month deposits will earn a below market rate, 3.5%, instead of the going rate in the area of 5%, in an effort to increase the capacity of those credit unions, according to Scott Burnham, a spokesman for Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. “The Treasurer has been thinking about instituting a program that would assist some of these credit unions to provide some of the programs in need in these communities,” Burnham told The Credit Union Journal. Among the recipients is North Side Community FCU, which Giannoulias visited Monday to help kick-off a new loan to finance the U.S. citizenship process for immigrants. “Our investment in 17 low-income designated credit unions throughout Illinois will pump $1.7 million into the local economy of communiti4s that need it the most, while helping working families meet their needs responsible,” said Giannoulias. The state will require all of the participating credit unions to document how the funds were used. Other participants include: Ambraw FCU, Berean FCU, Canaan FCU, Community FCU, South Side Community FCU, St. Mark FCU, Life FCU, Shiloh Englewood FCU, Cosmopolitan FCU and Imperial FCU.