The National Credit Union Administration awarded $1.9 million in grants to help 155 low-income credit unions with a variety of tasks.
The money will be used for initiatives such as training employees, making improvements in digital services and security and increasing outreach to underserved communities, the NCUA said on Friday in a press release.
The grants, ranging from $1,900 to $100,000, were made to credit unions in 40 states and the District of Columbia. The regulator said 31 credit unions were first-time grant recipients, while 58 were minority depository institutions.
NCUA made awards in four categories. Eleven grants totaling about $973,000 were given for underserved outreach. In this category, the largest grant was for $100,000 with six of the 11 recipients receiving that amount.
Seventy-three awards totaling roughly $550,000 were granted for digital services and security. The largest award in this category was $8,000, with numerous recipients receiving that amount.
Forty-six grants were given totaling about $217,000 for training. The maximum grant for training was $5,000.
Counselor certification efforts were given 35 grants totaling almost $162,000. This category was new this year. Of the 35 grants in this category, 26 were for the maximum amount of $5,000.
In October 2018, NCUA made $2 million in grants to 203 LICUs. Last year’s awards ranged from $1,300 to $20,000.
The grant program is overseen by NCUA’s Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion, with the funding provided by the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund. The fund offers grants and loans to credit unions serving low-income communities. Since 2001, Congress has provided NCUA with $22.8 million for these grants.
