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The Impact of New York's credit unions
ALBANY, NY (05/11/2015)(readMedia)-- For Immediate Release
May 11, 2015
Contact: Ronald McLean, Senior Vice President
(800) 342-9835, ext. 8191 | Ronald.McLean@nycua.org
NYCUA MORE report underscores credit union impact
(Albany, N.Y.) – The New York Credit Union Association's MORE Report is an annual compilation of credit union outreach stories that celebrates the positive difference New York credit unions make for their members and communities. Each year, the MORE Report is shared with credit unions, legislators, the media and the public.
The 2014 MORE Report highlights New York credit unions' efforts in seven categories: adult financial education; community investment and outreach; customized products and services; financial counseling; immigrant outreach; Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA; and youth financial education. According to the report, in 2014, New York's credit unions provided:
• more than 14,000 in-classroom lessons on saving, budgeting and other financial skills;
• financial education lessons to more than 230,000 youths and 172,000 adults;
• 248,000 hours of volunteer community service; and
• $38.3 million in donations to local causes, organizations and schools.
The state's credit unions also helped New Yorkers file 81,500 tax returns and claim $110 million in tax credits and benefits, according to the report. In total, New York's credit union staff and volunteers provided 36,000 hours of service through VITA, a federal program that offers free tax services to qualifying individuals.
The report also found that nearly all New York credit unions-99 percent-offer free checking accounts, and 91 percent provide loans of $1,000 or less in an effort to combat predatory payday lending practices.
"Credit unions are not just the best financial choice for Americans, they're also vitally important to the communities they serve," said NYCUA President and CEO William J. Mellin. "Financial cooperatives were first created to help underserved communities grow and thrive. Clearly New York's credit unions still carry on that tradition today."
To help highlight key statistics from the MORE Report, NYCUA also released a new video available on the association's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fw4JN07-Z8).
The New York Credit Union Association has served as the trade association for the state's credit unions for 98 years. With more than 5 million memberships, New York credit union assets total more than $68 billion. To learn more about NYCUA, visit www.nycua.org. To find a credit union or learn more about the credit union movement, visit www.asmarterchoice.org.
