ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Wednesday said federal credit unions may provide emergency financial services to anyone, even non-members, during natural disasters and other emergencies, such as Hurricane Irene.
“In addition to providing services to their members, federal credit unions may provide financial services to non-members as part of their authority to engage in charitable activities under their incidental powers,” NCUA said in a new letter to CUs.
Under the agency’s long-recognized authority to engage in charitable activities, credit unions can “and should” provide an appropriate range of emergency financial services, including check cashing to non-members, access to ATMs or other means to cash, said NCUA.
Because the Federal CU Act generally limits service to members, credit unions providing these emergency services must do so on a charitable basis, “meaning that FCUs may not impose charges for services that exceed their direct costs.”
