Two New York-area credit unions – one huge in size, one small -- have recently expanded their fields of membership.
Municipal Credit Union, a $2.5 billion institution based in New York City, has increased its membership field to include students of St. John’s University, which is based in Jamaica, Queens.
The charter expansion, which was approved by the New York Department of Financial Services and which amended MCU's charter immediately, now allows MCU to serve the more than 20,000 current students at St. John’s four campuses in New York.
Municipal CU currently has more than 411,000 members.
MCU noted that it was already the official credit union of St. John’s University Athletics, as well as the University's faculty and staff.
"The addition of St. John's students to our field of membership is part of our continued extension to serve public and private colleges throughout the five boroughs [of New York City], as well as an extension of our growing relationship with St. John’s University,” MCU board chair James Durrah said in a statement. “We encourage all St. John's students to look at MCU as a low-cost financial alternative to banks and other lending institutions."
St. John’s University students are now the second major student group to join MCU’s eligible fields of membership; students of the City University of New York were added in 2014.
Healthcare Financial broadens FOM
Separately, up the road in Connecticut, the $57 million-asset Healthcare Financial Federal Credit Union of New Haven, said that the National Credit Union Administration approved the expansion of its Trade Industry Professional charter to serve health care professionals in all eight counties of Connecticut (up from four counties) and their immediate families.
HFFCU said it will “build upon its long-standing relationships” in Fairfield, Middlesex, New Haven and New London counties, and the Yale School of Medicine, by bringing “affordable financial services” to health care workers statewide.
HFFCU currently has about 8,900 members, up from 6,754 a year prior. Last year, the credit union posted net income of $16,757.
HFFCU became a Trade Industry Professional in 2012, a charter classification established by the NCUA in 2003. This measure allows single-sponsor credit unions to serve all employees in a specific trade, industry or profession within a defined geographic area.
“Healthcare Financial is ripe for this transition to give added financial strength to all those who do heroic work for patients and their families,” said CEO Josephine Savino. “We know the struggles facing nurses, physicians and staff, and are committed to providing convenient, quality service that meets their needs.”
