North Jersey Federal Credit Union announced that it has become the first credit union in the Garden State to become an official "Juntos Avanzamos" credit union as recognized by the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation).
The designation means that the $233-million North Jersey FCU of Totowa, N.J., has been recognized as possessing the institutional capacity and commitment to serve Latinos and immigrants by offering flexible account opening and loan underwriting criteria, thereby making it easier for consumers to gain access to responsible financial services and asset building lending products.
Juntos Avanzamos, which means "together we advance" in Spanish, is a program that was originally created by the Cornerstone Credit Union League and is now under the auspices of the National Federation of Community Development CUs. With its roots in the Southwest, most of the CUs carrying the accreditation are located in that region, though the program has branched out to a number of states across the country.
The designation will help North Jersey FCU expand various products and services to Hispanic immigrants, including its use of the flexible Customer Identification Program that allows the credit union to provide loans to individuals who have Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) Cards or Matricula Consular Cards (given to Mexican immigrants by the Mexican Consulate).
"It is critical for us to help build portals to legitimate financial services. Accepting other legal forms of identification has become incredibly important to the unbanked population," said Sen. Bob Menendez (D.-N.J.), who attended a ceremony t0 recognize the credit union's designation. "Everyone benefits when immigrants save, borrow money and participate in the economy."
Cathie Mahon, president and CEO of Federation, explained that her organization has a "very rigorous process" for credit unions to apply and receive this designation.
"To become a 'Juntos Avanzamos' credit union means you will have passed benchmarks in several key areas such as the products and services offered, the number of bilingual signage and marketing that has been used in the past, whether a process was put in place to hire bilingual staff and management, and so on," she said. "Essentially we review how the credit union has incorporated providing products and services to a Spanish-speaking immigrant community."
An estimated 1.2-million Mexican immigrants live in the tristate area. Nearly one out of every two Hispanic households are unbanked or underbanked.
