ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Given the dearth of new CUs in recent years, the National Credit Union Administration on Monday announced it has created a new resource to help groups that are interested in applying for a federal charter.
NCUA said its "
"Starting a credit union is a tremendous undertaking, and people who take on this challenge need to understand what's involved in this process," NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said. "This new guide is essentially a roadmap to success, explaining in detail how to complete the process. It also helps organizers focus on key actions, from finding their niche in an increasingly complex and competitive marketplace and raising capital to preparing an effective application."
The guide also includes answers to frequently asked questions about the amount of time required to obtain a charter, the amount of start-up capital necessary and the availability of consulting services from NCUA's Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives.
The chartering process is broken into five parts:
- Researching a federal charter, selecting a credit union name, establishing a field of membership, deciding what kind of charter to request and determining whether to seek a low-income designation.
- Identifying subscribers, securing funding for start-up costs, finding a location and surveying the potential membership.
- Finding support resources, identifying credit union officials and management, creating a business plan, deciding on what products and services to offer, management, recordkeeping, establishing policies and continuity planning.
- How NCUA acts on charter applications.
- Checklists, worksheets and sample forms.
