This report summarizes an 18-month evaluation of the
affordable payday loan alternative products offered by six community development credit unions and identifies the financial and
operational factors that account for the program's success.
Community organizations lack the resources to establish a new credit union,
while credit unions have difficulty penetrating underserved markets. In these
four cases, a strategic partnership helped bridge the gap.
As bank regulators take a close look at modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) through a series of hearings and public comment period, we’re walking you through some key reasons why CRA must be updated. Last week, we explained how assessment areas don’t fully capture where a bank does business (see the discussion at Huffington Post). Today we’ll explain how CRA applies only to a fraction of the financial industry and why communities need a broader CRA to ensure that all financial institutions are offering safe and sustainable products where they do business.
Credit unions can offer sustainable, affordable short term credit at a fraction of the cost of traditional payday lenders, says a recent report by Marva Williams, until recently Woodstock Institute senior vice president.
Building Community Assets: Growing Lower-Income Credit Union Membership through Community and Credit Union Partnerships