Credit unions, banks gear up for battle over North Carolina bill

CHARLOTTE — Proponents of a bill purporting to modernize credit unions are pushing back against criticism by North Carolina bankers, with one leader calling out commercial banks for “abandon(ing)” rural parts of the state.

Dan Schline, president and CEO of the Carolinas Credit Union League, spoke with CBJ sister publication the Triangle Business Journal last week, deflecting criticism being hurled at House Bill 410, a measure that bankers worry could give credit unions many of their powers — but without taxation.

Schline calls the criticism preposterous — describing the bill as a way to expand financial services to North Carolinians who need them the most.

“As banks have closed 600-plus branches across the state, these rural communities have been left behind and abandoned,” he said. The bill would allow credit unions to expand their membership bases, specifically to underrepresented groups. Right now, credit unions chartered in North Carolina have set criteria for membership — say, people in a specific region or working for a particular employer. State Employees’ Credit Union, for example, targets state employees and their families.

That part doesn’t change, Schline said. But the measure would allow credit unions the possibility of expanding their membership to other set groups — specifically those covering underserved communities such as minority business owners or people at or below the poverty line.

And that’s the big rub for bankers.

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