A Pennsylvania credit union has won approval for a community charter that will let it serve 5 million people in five Philadelphia-area counties.
The National Credit Union Administration approved the charter for the $3.1 billion-asset Citadel Federal Credit Union in Thorndale in a closed session last week. The field of membership is one of the largest ever granted by the regulator.
Citadel already serves Chester County, but the new charter will allow it to add Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.
Pennsylvania has been a frequent battleground for banking groups and credit unions over the issue of large community charters. Citadel's charter was approved nine months after a federal court struck down an NCUA-approved community charter that included 1.2 million people in six counties in the central part of the state.
Three similar charters approved by state regulators have been bogged down in court challenges for the past four years.
