Financial Services for the Underserved Act of 2016

Financial Services for the Underserved Act of 2016

This bill amends the Federal Credit Union Act to revise the requirements for allowing a federal credit union to extend its field of membership in an underserved area.

The credit union must be well capitalized or adequately capitalized, and within 24 months after approval by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) it must have established and maintained an ongoing method to provide services in the local community, neighborhood, or rural district. (The current requirement is that the credit union must, without a deadline, establish and maintain an office or facility in the local community, neighborhood, or rural district at which credit union services are available.)

Any failure of a federal credit union to meet the latter requirement by the end of the 24-month period shall constitute a termination, as a matter of law, of NCUA approval of its application regarding the credit union's membership.

Any federal credit union with an approved application for an underserved area must report annually to the NCUA on the number of:

• credit union members who are members by reason of that application; and
• offices or facilities maintained by the credit union in the local community, neighborhood, or rural district taken into account by the NCUA in approving the application.

The bill defines "underserved area" generally as a geographic area consisting of a single census tract or a group of census tracts, each of which meets the criteria for a low-income community or is underserved by other depository institutions, based on data of the NCUA and the federal banking agencies.