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The NCUA Wednesday released its annual report to Congress on the performance of minority depository institution (MDI) credit unions. The agency highlighted that MDI credit unions saw growth in membership, assets, and loans in 2022.

“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,” said NCUA Chairman Todd Harper. “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 NCUA noted it supervised 503 MDI credit unions at the end of 2022, compared to 509 at the end of 2021, with the decline due to mergers and credit unions no longer self-designating as MDIs.

Highlights from the report showed MDIs:

• 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 report also included updates on the NCUA’s MDI preservation efforts, which in 2022 featured:

• chartering two new MDI credit unions: WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union (Kansas City, Mo.), and People Trust Federal Credit Union (North Little Rock, Ark.);
• 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; and
• continuing the MDI Mentoring Cohort, which provided technical assistance, networking, and training to mentoring grant recipients.

During its June board meeting, the NCUA issued a proposed interpretive ruling and policy statement (IRPS) related to its MDI Preservation Program. NAFCU has advocated on behalf of both MDIs and community development financial institutions (CDFIs) on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to allow all credit unions to serve underserved areas and implement longer loan maturity limits for consumers.