Aug. 31, 2012 – Lakota FCU, a low-income designated, community credit union in South Dakota, has become the second federal credit union chartered this year by NCUA, the agency announced this week.
NCUA’s Office of Consumer Protection approved the charter. The credit union, which expects to open in November, will serve members who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school, and transact business on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The institution will make financial literacy and membership education initiatives top priorities, NCUA said.
Lakota FCU plans to offer regular shares, share certificates, unsecured loans, share secured loans, auto loans, money orders, cashier checks, direct deposits, wire transfers, and check cashing. To effectively serve a geographically dispersed membership, the credit union will offer ATM cards, online banking, and audio response.
In making the announcement, NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz noted that the opening of Lakota FCU “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.”
As a low-income designated credit union, Lakota FCU will be allowed to accept non-member deposits, obtain grants and loans from the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, offer secondary capital accounts, and qualify for exemptions from statutory limits on member business lending.
The new credit union is being sponsored by Lakota Funds, a 26-year-old non-profit Community Development Financial Institution in Kyle, S.D. The mission of Lakota Funds is to "lead an economic resurgence of the Oglala Lakota Oyate tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation through cultural strategies reigniting the traditional Lakota spirit of productivity, commerce, and trade," NCUA said.