Compliance Blog

May 27, 2015

$2 Million in Second Round of NCUA Grants

Written by Eliott C. Ponte, Regulatory Compliance Counsel

Last week, NCUA announced it would make up to $2 million available to credit unions in the second round of Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants.  NCUA will accept applications from June 1st through June 30th.  To apply, a credit union must have a “Low-Income Credit Union” designation or an equivalent in the case of a Qualifying State-chartered Credit Union.  In the second round, NCUA is offering four separate initiatives:

Fraud Prevention and Cybersecurity.  NCUA will provide up to $7,500 to assist in developing its fraud prevention and cybersecurity efforts.  Credit unions may use awarded funds for a variety of projects including compliance risk assessment, encrypting and/or protecting sensitive data, developing or implementing a data classification policy, cybersecurity training, and monitoring cyber security risk.  For a full list of all the projects covered by the grant, see NCUA’s OSCUI Grant Guideline, page 4.

New Product and Service Development.  NCUA plans to award individual grants of up to $10,000 to credit unions that want to offer select new products or services to its members.  NUCA has put together a list of approved products or services that include the installation of a new ATM to member business loans.  For a complete list of all the products and services covered, see NCUA’s OSCUI Grant Guideline, page 5.

Digital Growth.  Up to $10,000 will be available for each eligible credit union to offer digital products to members.  Under the Digital Growth initiative, a credit union can receive a grant to upgrade or enhance an existing product or service currently offered to members.  For more information, see NCUA’s OSCUI Grant Guideline, page 6.

Building Capacity and Growth.  NCUA plans to award grants up to $24,000 to credit unions interested in opening a new branch in underserved areas or relocating from a home-based to a non-residential location.  For more information, see NCUA’s OSCUI Grant Guideline, page 7.

 Each credit union may apply to any of the four grant initiatives, but the award maximum is $24,000.  Credit unions interested in applying for a grant may do so here.

 ***

Data Breaches: Your Credit Union’s Role When Things Go Wrong

Live Webcast: Wednesday, June 3 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET

 Hundreds of millions of personal accounts have been affected by merchant data breaches.  The Home Depot breach alone cost credit unions over $54.2 million.  In the wake of these massive breaches, what has really been done?  Join us for an in-depth exploration of the fallout, your compliance obligations outlined by NCUA and FFIEC, and how you can contribute to the solution.  You will also take away a step-by-step approach to handling data security breaches at your credit union.  For more information, click this link.

Â