President Bush asked to note NCUSIF

WASHINGTON (9/25/08)—President George W. Bush was asked by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Wednesday to instruct those within his administration to included federal credit union share insurance in messages meant to reassure Americans about the safety of their federally insured deposits.

"In recent days through a variety of the media, Secretary of the Treasury (Henry) Paulson, Federal Reserve Board Chairman (Ben) Bernanke and you have been quoted as saying that consumers should consider their deposits safe in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC, insured accounts," CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica wrote in his Sept. 24 letter.

"I would respectfully draw your attention to the fact that credit union members' funds in federally insured credit unions are just as safe as those that are insured by the FDIC," Mica wrote.

Credit union members' funds at the nation's 7,972 federally insured credit unions are guaranteed under the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) to the same levels and safety as the FDIC insured accounts. NCUSIF, like the FDIC, is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

The CUNA missive also highlighted that credit unions are gaining increasing recognition for the fact that they have not contributed to this crisis, having remained faithful to sound loan underwriting and avoiding subprime lending.