Recent NCUA News & Updates

Hauptman Announces Changes to NCUA’s Overdraft/NSF Fee Collection

March 3, 2025 – To help ensure credit unions can continue to support the needs of Americans struggling with inflation, the National Credit Union Administration will no longer publish overdraft and non-sufficient fund fee income for individual credit unions, Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman announced today. The NCUA will collect the data during supervisory examinations.

“There is a well-intentioned movement aimed at protecting consumers from excessive fees, which is something we all support,” Chairman Hauptman said. “However, we must also consider the unintended consequences of such policies. In this instance, the previous data collection policy incentivized credit unions to avoid serving the needs of low-income and underserved communities. These fees can be the best option in a bad situation, saving money and protecting individuals’ credit scores. Overdraft also protects people from much higher costs imposed by their local governments.”

Chairman Hauptman discussed this policy change during a fireside chat with Jim Nussle, President & CEO of America’s Credit Unions at the 2025 Governmental Affairs Conference.

Under the previous data collection policy, the NCUA required federally insured credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets to disclose, separately, income from overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees. This data was available to the public on an individual basis and in the aggregate. Under the new policy, which goes into effect with the March 31, 2025, Call Report cycle, the NCUA will collect overdraft and NSF fee data as part of the examination process. The agency will continue to publish overdraft and NSF fee income data in the aggregate once updates to its examination system are complete.

“Our regulatory framework should protect consumers from predatory practices without depriving them of the financial tools they need to navigate their lives,” Chairman Hauptman said. “The appropriateness of overdrafts and NSF fees charged is a matter between a credit union and its member-owners who ultimately determine how their credit union is run.”

Chairman Hauptman also discussed what he calls “true financial inclusion,” which means removing barriers to de novo credit unions and removing the ‘pain points’ that have led to fewer small credit unions.

“The NCUA must ensure our regulatory burden is not a factor in a credit union’s decision to merge away,” he said. “Once those credit unions are gone, rarely does anyone come to fill their place. Relieving the regulatory burden on credit unions, especially the small and newly formed ones posing relatively low risk to the Share Insurance Fund, is vital to keeping these credit unions thriving now and in the future.”

Kyle S. Hauptman Designated as NCUA Board Chairman, Announces Priorities

Jan. 22, 2025 – President Trump has designated National Credit Union Administration Vice Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman as the thirteenth Chairman of the NCUA Board.

“I am deeply honored that President Trump has asked me to serve as Chairman of NCUA,” Chairman Hauptman said. “I look forward to leading the agency’s dedicated professionals and working with my Board colleagues to create a regulatory structure that promotes growth, opportunity, and innovation within the credit union system.

“My priorities as Chairman include:

  • Re-examining the current NCUA budgeting process.
  • Convening groups of NCUA employees to identify achievable internal efficiencies to reduce unnecessary frictions in the agency’s operations.
  • Promoting the appropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for NCUA employees. One goal is enhancing productivity, but it’s also true that regulators who use technologies are more apt to understand why the regulated use them.
  • Focusing on true financial inclusion, which means removing barriers to de novo credit unions and removing the ‘pain points’ that have led to fewer and fewer small credit unions. NCUA should be mindful that the only people who think compliance is easy are those that don’t have to do it.
  • Codifying our procedures to protect Americans from regulation-by-enforcement. For example, no enforcement action should ever set – even clarify – policy. In America and other free societies, the sequence is: set speed limits, then give speeding tickets (no one has any obligation to be aware of someone else’s ticket).
  • Making clear that credit unions and their members are best positioned to assess their communities’ climate risks.
  • Re-assessing NCUA policies that may, even inadvertently, dissuade credit unions from serving low-income areas. This includes language around overdraft policies, particularly for credit unions located in states with especially punitive government late fees/penalties.
  • Right-sizing credit unions’ obligations where possible under the Bank Secrecy Act, including NCUA’s regulations surrounding Suspicious Activity Reports.”