For the second time this week, the National Credit Union Administration's (NCUA) Office of Consumer Protection has approved the charter of a de novo federal credit union.
Lakota Federal Credit Union, a community credit union with a low-income designation, received charter approval. The new financial institution, which will serve the approximately 40,000 people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, is scheduled to open in November. Its initial product offerings will include unsecured loans, share secured loans and auto loans, but it does not plan to offer home loans during its first year of operation
‘Every American deserves access to affordable financial services,’ says NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz. ‘Unfortunately, many Native Americans on reservations only have access to predatory lenders. Lakota Federal Credit Union has the potential to play an important role on a 2.2 million-acre reservation that has no other access to federally insured financial services. I commend those individuals who worked so hard to establish this Native American credit union.’
Lakota Funds, a 26-year-old nonprofit community development financial institution located in Kyle, S.D., is sponsoring the new credit union. Earlier this week, Internet Archive Federal Credit Union, headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J., became the year's first new federal credit union after the NCUA approved its charter.