MDI Credit Unions’ Strong Performance Benefits Members and Communities

NCUA Releases 2022 Annual MDI Report to Congress

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 5, 2023) – Minority depository institution credit unions experienced growth in membership, assets, and loans in 2022, expanding access to financial services for their members and communities.

“Minority depository institutions are an essential component of the credit union system, providing access to safe, fair, and affordable financial products and services within under-resourced communities,” NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper said. “MDIs during 2022 showed us just how essential they are. Not only did they give millions of Americans the chance to build better and more secure financial futures, their performance metrics in several categories were stronger than the credit union system overall.”

The National Credit Union Administration today released its annual report to Congress on the performance of MDI credit unions and the agency’s work to support them.

The NCUA supervised 503 MDI credit unions at the end of 2022, compared to 509 at the end of 2021. The decrease is largely due to mergers and credit unions no longer self-designating as MDIs. In 2022, MDI credit unions

• Served more than 5 million members, up from 4.5 million in 2021;
• Had $42.2 billion in loans outstanding compared to $34.2 billion in 2021, primarily concentrated in first-mortgage real estate ($15.7 billion) and vehicle loans ($14.7 billion); and
• Saw their total assets increase to $64.7 billion, up from $58.9 billion the year before.

The NCUA’s MDI Preservation Program continued to offer support to MDI credit unions through technical assistance, training, and access to Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants and loans.

During 2022, the NCUA’s MDI preservation efforts included:

• Chartering two new MDI credit unions: WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union in Kansas City, Missouri, and People Trust Federal Credit Union in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
• Launching the Small Credit Union and MDI Support Program, which directed agency resources to the needs of MDI credit unions. The NCUA dedicated 1,534 staff hours per region to this effort, and 136 MDI credit unions participated. The NCUA will allocate 1,833 staff hours per region in 2023.
• Approving field-of-membership expansions for 26 MDIs, allowing them to add 833 new member groups or geographic areas and more than 7.7 million potential members.
• Providing 16 MDI credit unions with approximately $270,000 in technical assistance grants.
• Awarding $25,000 mentoring grants to two credit unions under the agency’s MDI mentoring program to help them obtain technical and other assistance from stronger, more experienced institutions.
• Continuing the MDI Mentoring Cohort, which provided technical assistance, networking, and training to mentoring grant recipients.

A federally insured credit union can qualify as an MDI if more than 50 percent of its current members, the community it services, and its board of directors are from one or a combination of the four minority categories defined in federal law: any Black American, Asian American, Hispanic American, or Native American. MDI credit unions are often the only federally insured financial institution available in rural, urban, and under-resourced communities that have been historically underserved by traditional financial institutions.

The NCUA designated the month of June as Minority Depository Institution Awareness Month to enhance the public’s understanding of the vital work minority depository institution credit unions perform in underserved communities nationwide. For more information about MDIs and the NCUA’s support efforts, visit the Minority Depository Institution Preservation page.