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On Thursday, Community Development Financial Institutions Director Annie Donovan, Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary Amias Gerety and NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate increased credit union involvement in the CDFI Fund.

NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Alicia Nealon attended the signing, which marked the beginning of a partnership Treasury hopes will double the number of CDFI-certified credit unions.

"We appreciate the collaborative efforts of NCUA and the CDFI Fund to help make it easier for credit unions to access CDFI funds and resources in order to serve the financial needs of low-income and underserved communities," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger in a statement. "Credit unions, as not-for-profit, member-owned financial cooperatives, are uniquely well-suited to fill the financial services needs of these communities."

During her remarks, Donovan mentioned NAFCU-member MariSol Federal Credit Union, of Phoenix, Ariz., and its president and CEO, Robin Romano, as an example of a credit union that excels at using its CDFI designation to help underserved consumers.

Credit unions that have NCUA's low-income designation share many of the qualifications required for CDFI certification. A credit union must be CDFI-certified to apply for the Fund's grants.

The CDFI Fund is administered through the Treasury Department. There are currently around 2,300 low-income designated credit unions.