Credit unions seeking information on protecting members and potential members from being victimized by predatory lenders can now access innovative ideas on the subject at NCUA's website at www.ncua.gov.
The material has been assembled by board member Debbie Matz as part of her Partnering and Leadership Successes (PALS) initiative, and includes success stories and presentations shared by credit unions that attended the PALS workshop in Dallas. "By sharing best practices from this workshop, we hope to inspire many more credit unions to offer services that will attract new members and provide them with alternatives to the insidious and pervasive predatory lenders who are taking billions of dollars out of their communities," Matz emphasized. The presentations feature ideas such as:
* Lending innovations, including risk-based loans, payday loan alternatives, affordable mortgages and manufactured home loans.
* Deposit innovations, including low-cost check cashing, IDAs, and transitional products, such as stored-value products, club accounts, credit-builder CDs and more.
Service innovations, including international remittances, volunteer income tax assistance, and Neighborhood Contact Offices.
* To access the presentations online, start with NCUA's home page (www.ncua.gov), click PALS, then click Workshop Presentations.
