(Note: this information written and provided by the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.)
NerdWallet.com, a personal finance website, announced on Monday its inaugural list of Top 10 Community-Oriented Credit Unions, and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) was pleased to report that it counts seven of the ten credit unions on the list among its member community development credit unions (CDCUs), credit unions with a focus on serving low- and moderate-income communities, minorities and other at-risk populations.
"We are extremely pleased to see some of our outstanding CDCUs on this list," said Federation President/CEO Cliff Rosenthal. "The work of community development credit unions is challenging, expensive and time-consuming, but credit unions such as these, which are among our high-performing CDCUs are showing the world day-in and day-out that serving low-income communities can be done effectively and profitably."
"2011's community-oriented credit unions are outstanding examples of how credit unions enrich the lives of their members and more. Profits are returned to members, so that money stays local; but on top of that, these institutions truly make an investment in their communities," said NerdWallet CEO and founder Tim Chen.
According to Laura Edgar, NerdWallet's credit union specialist, "NerdWallet looked at hundreds of websites and articles before deciding on the top 10 community-focused credit unions. In particular, we were looking for credit unions with innovative programming and a successful track record of helping under-served populations. We wrote the article to spread awareness of the amazing work credit unions can do for our communities."
NerdWallet's Top 10 Community-Oriented Credit Unions of 2011 are:
- Alternatives Federal Credit Union (Ithaca, NY)*, for its support of small businesses;
- Cooperative Federal Credit Union (Syracuse, NY)*, for promoting equality;
- Hope Federal Credit Union (Jackson, MS)*, for its community infrastructure support;
- ASI Federal Credit Union (Harahan, LA)*, for its newly launched microloan program;
- Latino Community Credit Union (Durham, NC)*, for its outreach to at-risk populations;
- Family Trust Credit Union (Rock Hill, SC), for its personalized financial counseling services;
- Alliant Credit Union (Chicago, IL), for its loan assistance program;
- Self-Help Credit Union & Self-Help Federal Credit Union (Durham, NC & Oakland, CA)*, for its innovative "micro-branch";
- Generations Federal Credit Union (San Antonio, TX), for its online financial literacy resources;
- Freedom First Federal Credit Union (Salem, VA)*, for its work supporting local nonprofits
*Denotes Federation-member community development credit union.
For more detailed profiles on each of the top community-oriented credit unions, visit NerdWallet.com at: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/nerdwallets-top-community-credit-unions/.
Launched in 2010, NerdWallet focused primarily on credit card rankings, scouring the financial universe to bring consumers any and every bank and credit union credit card program they could find and provide their own unbiased take on what the various rewards programs or deposit accounts are actually worth. Their goal is to help consumers find the right financial products to save them the most money. Over the past year, however, NerdWallet has begun to expand and build-out its resources for consumers, with a blog dedicated to money-saving tips and advice for consumers and a new credit union finder application.
Among other areas NerdWallet hopes to further expand on its website are its consumer financial literacy resources; ways to help unbanked and underbanked individuals and families locate affordable regulated financial institutions; and educating consumer on the differences between various types of financial institutions (banks and credit unions; community development banks and community development credit unions; and non-depository community development financial institutions (CDFIs) such as community development loan funds and community development venture capital funds; check cashers, payday lenders, and so on).