ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA ruled it is permissible for a federal credit union to award volunteers with certain cash remuneration, such as a $250 Visa gift card.
In a new legal opinion provided to Hudson Valley FCU, NCUA said such a reward is permissible under the agency’s rule limiting compensation of officials, “so long as the award is nominal in value in proportion to the period of service it covers.”
The $750-million credit union provides Visa gift cards as Volunteer Service Awards at the end of each five-year period of service to volunteers, who may include directors and committee members. NCUA said a monetary award recognizing an official’s multiple years of service – as opposed to an award periodically given to all volunteers – would constitute an incentive to volunteerism, rather than the proscribed “compensation.”
