| The Massachusetts Division of Banks recently cited a small Boston-based industrial credit union for deficiencies with its CRA compliance, apparently because the institution had not taken greater efforts to expand its membership base.
According to its most recent Community Reinvestment Act performance evaluation, which was conducted in January but only recently made public, the state banking regulator awarded the Pressers Union Local 12 ILGWU Credit Union a “needs to improve” CRA rating.
According to the National Credit Union Administration, the credit union had 60 members and just under $118,000 in assets as of June this year. It has one location in Boston’s Chinatown, and its field of membership includes members of the Pressers Union Local 12 International Lady Garment Workers, which today goes by the New England Joint Board UNITE HERE, as well as their immediate family members.
As of September of last year, the credit union had 53 members, which the banking division considered a relatively small number in comparison to its potential membership base. The number of employees in the union that institution serves had grown substantially over the years through a series of mergers with other unions representing textile workers and hotel and restaurant employees, the regulator said in its review.
Noting that Pressers Credit Union held about 32 percent of its total assets in unsecured consumer loans and the remainder in cash, the division wrote in its review that “by serving 53 members, the institution is thereby not meeting the credit needs of its membership base.”
The credit union did not respond to a call from Banker & Tradesman seeking comment.
