New law allows credit unions to expand membership.
The Credit Union Membership Access Act, or H.R. 1151, stands to affect membership requirements at 7,065 federal credit unions. For the past year and a half, credit unions have not been able to sign up new groups of members, as bankers fought to try and restrict credit union growth, claiming that credit unions had unfair tax advantages. Now it's up to the National Credit Union Administration , the agency that oversees federal credit unions and its insurance fund, to finalize new regulations on who can join. The process should take between four and six months, according to Lesia Bullock, a credit union administration spokeswoman. Whether to join a credit union That means that soon, many Americans will have the option of joining a credit union.