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NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt wrote to the Defense Department Wednesday to reiterate the need for an immediate extension of the credit card account compliance deadline under the Military Lending Act rule.

In advancing its top advocacy priorities, NAFCU has repeatedly voiced credit unions' concerns about the issue and met with regulators several times to offer suggestions on ways to improve the MLA rule.

"Credit unions have undertaken considerable efforts to comply with the MLA rule, and they will continue to do so, but the rule's application to credit card accounts presents many unique challenges," Hunt wrote. "These challenges suggest that without substantial additional regulatory clarity, many financial institutions will struggle to offer MLA-compliant products.

"For this reason, we request that the Department immediately exercise the authority it reserved in the MLA rule and extend the exemption for credit card accounts for a full year, until October 3, 2018," she continued.

Hunt, in Wednesday's letter, emphasized the difficulties involved in calculating the military annual percent rate (MAPR) for credit card accounts, which will require credit unions to make substantial changes to their existing systems or adopt new systems. She expressed NAFCU's confidence that with additional time and more clarity in the form of guidance or revisions to the regulatory text, credit unions will be able to fully comply with the rule.

Hunt also thanked the DoD for attending the meeting NAFCU organized earlier this month on credit union-specific issues and concerns about MLA compliance. NAFCU hosted representatives from the DoD, CFPB, NCUA, credit unions and other industry groups for the discussion. Credit union representatives were able to voice operational concerns and ask questions about specific compliance issues facing the industry.