WASHINGTON – The National Credit Union Foundation will release a report today that shows the impact CUs have made in financial education and counseling.
The report – free and available online at realsolutions.coop – is titled “Credit Unions: Focused on Financial Capability Across America” and is a part of NCUF’s “REAL Solutions” program.
The study is the result of nearly a year of data collection from NCUF and state leagues, and finds that 1.6 million consumers received financial counseling and advice from CUs in 2010. Additionally, credit union representatives presented more than 24,000 financial literacy sessions to more than 600,000 students nationwide. Of the nation’s in-school credit union branches, the NCUF found that 111,500 student members had deposited $34 million at 1,400 branches.
Beyond the classroom, the report also found that CUs invested $140 million in 2010 toward improving consumers’ financial abilities.
NCUF and REAL Solutions collected data through an online survey of U.S. credit unions. The report is based on the responses of 576 credit unions of all asset sizes, representing 8% of all U.S. credit unions and 27% of total U.S. credit union membership (as of December 2010).
