Across the country, hundreds of credit unions utilize the Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFI, Fund to bring financial stability, access, and opportunity to families and small businesses who need it most. Whether it’s hosting financial literacy classes, providing second-chance loans for reliable transportation to work, or opening branches in communities left behind by banks, credit unions make every dollar of CDFI funding count.
The author of a recent op-ed published in American Banker (
The CDFI Fund was created to serve people and communities often left behind by traditional financial institutions — and credit unions were explicitly included in the law and regulations implementing the program. The reason is simple: Credit unions are mission-driven financial cooperatives, not profit-maximizing institutions. It only makes sense that their impact through the CDFI Fund would be strong.
The numbers tell the story. For every $1 of CDFI funding, credit unions deliver a $12 return on investment. Nearly 500 credit unions are certified CDFIs, serving neighborhoods where banks have shuttered more than 20,000 branches over the past decade. During that same period, credit unions opened over 500 new branches — often the only local access point for affordable financial services in rural towns and underserved urban areas.
CDFI funds are not blank checks. They are competitive grants, awarded with strict requirements and bipartisan oversight, ensuring that taxpayer dollars achieve maximum impact. And they do: Credit unions help families finance first homes, launch small businesses, rebuild credit, and support local health and education projects.
Only 10% of credit unions have more than $1 billion in assets, yet they operate more than half the branches in areas that would otherwise be banking deserts. Their commitment to serving people over profit is precisely why Congress included them in the CDFI Fund from the start.
As lawmakers face calls for a so-called “level playing field,” they should see those arguments for what they are: deliberate misdirection and chronic misinformation. Credit unions are doing exactly what the CDFI Fund was designed to do — create economic opportunity, deliver strong returns and empower communities.
Congress should maintain its clear, consistent support for credit unions and their continued access to the CDFI Fund. The results speak for themselves — and so do the communities thriving because of them.