Program Guide

Streamlined CDFI Certification for Qualifying
LICUs • 2018 Program Guide
Table of Contents
Program Overview .................................................................................................. 2
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NCUA – CDFI Fund Partnership ................................................................. 2

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Transition: Pilot to Program ......................................................................... 2

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2018 Program Intake Periods ....................................................................... 3

Program Details ....................................................................................................... 4
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General Requirements .................................................................................. 4

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Data Requirements ....................................................................................... 4

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Geocode Analysis ......................................................................................... 6

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Results of Geocode Analysis ........................................................................ 6

Program Instructions ............................................................................................... 9
The CDFI Fund’s Contact Information ................................................................. 10

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

Program Overview
NCUA – CDFI Fund Partnership
On January 21, 2016, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the U.S.
Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund
entered into an agreement to streamline the application process for qualifying lowincome credit unions to become certified as CDFIs.
In this streamlined application process, NCUA analyzes a low-income credit union’s
products and services and other indicators showing the likelihood it will qualify for
certification. The credit union must submit data to NCUA on its loan originations and
identify its target market. If the credit union is qualified, NCUA will provide an
application form and the data necessary to complete it. Credit unions are then required
to complete the application and forward it to the CDFI Fund for the final determination
of the certification.
Credit unions that obtain CDFI certification can access training and competitive award
programs provided by the CDFI Fund. These resources enhance credit unions capacity
to provide underserved communities with access to safe and affordable financial
services.

Transition: Pilot to Program
The Streamlined CDFI Certification Application for Qualifying Low Income
Designated Credit Unions (referred to as “the streamlined certification application”)
was developed in 2016 as a pilot project between the NCUA and CDFI Fund. Select
credit unions were invited to participate in this pilot in order to collect and gather results
for a full-scale solution.
NCUA began transitioning this pilot project into a full-scale program in December
2016. The streamlined certification application process is now available to all low
income designated credit union’s (LICU) interested in becoming a CDFI.
Low income credit unions must consider the following to determine whether or not they
should submit data for approval to use the CDFI streamlined application:
Credit unions should determine if they are eligible by meeting the “General
Requirements” listed below. Next, credit unions should ensure that they can provide the
required data files listed in the “Data Requirements” section. Lastly, credit unions

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

should consider if their 2017 loan activity will qualify according to the “Results of the
Geocode Analysis” section. Credit union’s that do not meet the general requirements
will not have their files reviewed.
Credit unions that do not qualify to use the streamlined certification application are
encouraged to pursue the certification through the CDFI Fund’s standard application.

2018 Program Intake Periods for Interested LICUs
The streamlined certification application program will consist of three intake periods
this year. Each interested LICU may participate in the program only once a year. NCUA
will determine and identify the LICUs that qualify to use the streamlined certification
application during each period. LICUs that do not qualify for the streamlined
certification application may still apply for the CDFI certification through the standard
application.
Below are the intake periods for interested LICUs.

Round #
Special*
1
2
3

2018 Intake Periods
Start Date**
End Date**
Monday, January 22
Friday, February 16
Monday, March 19
Friday, April 6
Monday, June 4
Friday, June 22
Monday, September 10
Friday, September 28

*NCUA is offering a special intake period for LICUs located in Puerto Rico, Texas, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands that were impacted by hurricanes during 2017.
**Each Intake Period will open at 9am ET and close at 3pm ET.

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

Program Details
Details about the streamlined certification application program will be explained in a
Q&A format. The questions are divided into four sections: general requirements, data
requirements, geocode analysis, and the results of the geocode analysis.

General Requirements
1. Who is eligible to participate?
To participate in the streamlined certification application program, a credit
union must meet ALL of the following requirements:
•
•
•

Be insured by NCUA; and
Be designated as a low-income credit union by NCUA or a similar State
designation confirmed by NCUA.
Provide at least one of the following Programs & Services to your
members: Financial Counseling, Financial Education, Financial
Literacy Workshops, In-School Branches, and First-Time Homebuyer
Program.

2. Do I need to contact my examiner to participate?
No. But you are encouraged to communicate with your examiner if you plan to
participate in the program.
3. How can I participate in the program?
Interested credit unions must complete a participation form during one of the
invitation rounds and provide NCUA with their loan files for all 2017 loan
originations.
Please go through all of the program details and instructions. This will ensure
that you have all of the necessary information required to participate in the
program. The URL link for the participation form is located in the Program
Instruction section of this document page 9.

Data Requirements
4. Is there any data that I need to provide to NCUA?
Yes. Credit unions must provide a loan file for all loans originated during the
past calendar year (January 1 – December 31, 2017). Keep in mind that the
amount of loan originations in your file should reflect the total amount of loan

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

originations reported on your 5300 call report for the period ending December
31, 2017. If there are any differences, please provide a brief explanation
describing those differences. The loan file MUST include the following data
fields and layout:
Field Name
Mailing Street Address
City
State
Zip Code
Other Street Address

Field Description
Member’s address of record. Format examples are: “Number and
Name of Street”. 1
City associated with the Mailing Street Address.
State associated with the Mailing Street Address.
Zip code and four-digit identifier associated with the Mailing Street
Address. Do not include a hyphen if the four-digit extension is
included.
Street address other than the mailing address.
Date the loan was originally granted. Format date as MM/DD/YYYY

Date of Loan
Original Loan Amount

Original amount advanced for closed-end loans. Total outstanding
balance after the last advance for open-end loans.

5. How do I prepare the loan files that I will submit to NCUA?
You should prepare the loan file according to the data layout below. The file
must be submitted in an Excel (.xls or .xlsx) spreadsheet. Below is an example
of the preferred format. If you need assistance preparing the loan file in this
format, please email us at [email protected].
Mailing Address

City

State

Zip
Code

Other Street
Address

Date of Loan

Original Loan
Amount

1775 Duke Street

Alexandria

VA

22314

(optional)

03/15/2016

500.00

6. How should I provide this data to NCUA?
Credit unions may email their loan file to [email protected] through a
secured email encryption system called Zixcorp. Submitting your data securely
is a priority for NCUA; so following the email instructions on page 9 of this
document is extremely important if you select this option.

1

Please obtain a physical address for member records that have PO Boxes as the address. Our analysis
tool does not recognize PO Boxes. Including PO Boxes will have an undesirable impact on the analysis
results.

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

7. How will NCUA handle the personal identifiable information (PII) of my
members?
NCUA will not perform an analysis for credit unions that submit files that
include PII data. NCUA will remove and discard all of the data fields in the loan
file except the required data fields which are listed on pages 4 and 5 of this
document. After the analysis is completed, NCUA will delete the data file (if
there is any PII in the file).

Geocode Analysis
8. What will NCUA do with the data?
NCUA’s Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion (CURE) will
geocode each credit union’s loan originations for the past calendar year. The
results of the geocode analysis will determine if your credit union is qualified to
use the streamlined certification application.
9. How does NCUA’s geocode analysis work?
NCUA’s geocode analysis determines if your credit union generated a sufficient
amount of loan activity to the eligible Target Markets (Investment Areas and
Low-Income Targeted Populations by county) in the streamlined certification
application.
A credit union’s loan activity is considered sufficient for the streamlined
certification application if at least 60% of its financial transactions (BOTH the
number and dollar amount) are directed to eligible Target Market counties.
Eligible Target Market counties may only include the areas where a credit union
has an office branch AND the bordering counties to those branches.
10. How long does it typically take to complete a geocode analysis?
The geocode analysis can take 4 to 6 weeks to complete. The timeframe varies
depending on several factors prior to performing the analysis. However, CURE
aims to complete each analysis and notify all credit unions of the final results
within 3 weeks of the intake period closing.

Results of Geocode Analysis
11. What does the result of the geocode analysis mean for my credit union?
The result of your credit union’s geocode analysis determines if you qualify to
use the streamlined certification application. It DOES NOT automatically certify
your credit union as a CDFI. It also does not disqualify your credit union from
pursuing a CDFI certification through the standard application. There are three

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

possible analysis results: Qualified, Marginal, and Not Qualified. The meaning
of each result is detailed below.
•

Qualified: The credit union’s loan activity (both number and dollar
amount) directed to eligible Target Market counties is at least 60% of its
total loan activity. Credit unions that qualify are allowed to bypass some
of the CDFI certification application requirements. However, credit
unions are still responsible for completing and submitting the
streamlined certification application. The CDFI Fund will make the final
decision and determine if a credit union is a CDFI certified.

•

Marginal: The credit union’s loan activity (either number or dollar
amount) directed to eligible Target Market counties is between 51% and
59% of its total loan activity. Although these credit unions do not qualify
to use the streamlined certification application, the results suggest that
these credit unions are on the edge of qualifying and should pursue the
CDFI certification application through the standard application.

•

Not Qualified: The credit union’s loan activity (either number or dollar
amount) directed to eligible Target Market counties is less than 51% of
its total loan activity. These credit unions do not qualify to use the
streamlined certification application. However, these credit unions may
still pursue the CDFI certification through the standard application.

12. How will I be notified about the geocode analysis results?
NCUA will notify your credit union of the results by email. If you qualify to use
the streamlined certification application, NCUA will provide you with the
special application forms that you may submit to the CDFI Fund. If you do not
qualify, NCUA will provide a brief summary of the analysis results by email.
13. How long does it take to complete the streamlined application?
The streamlined certification application should only take a few hours to
complete.
14. When is the deadline to submit the streamlined application?
The deadline to submit the streamlined certification application to the CDFI
Fund is December 31, 2018. However, credit unions that qualify to use the
streamlined version are encouraged to submit the application as soon as
possible. Credit unions that receive the CDFI certification sooner will be better
prepared to apply for Federal awards from the CDFI Fund.

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

15. Where can I find out more information on the NCUA and CDFI Fund
Certification Initiative?
More information about this initiative is available as an archived webinar. To
view the webinar, go to the following link: CDFI Certification - More Than One
Way to Get There

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

Program Instructions
This section is a step-by-step instruction guide to help credit unions navigate the
process from start to finish.
Before proceeding to complete the participation form, please complete the following
activities:
1. Prepare your loan files for 2017 loan originations according to the file structure
identified on pages 4 and 5 of this document.
2. Create an account through NCUA’s secure and encrypted email solution,
Zixcorp. https://web1.zixmail.net/s/login?b=ncua

Step 1:
Email your loan file to [email protected] using the following template for the
subject line and body. Please ensure you are sending the message through ZixCorp’s
secure solution.
Subject:

Consent to CDFI Streamlined Application Geocode Analysis

Body:

Charter Number
Credit Union Name
Point of Contact Information

If you are unable to successfully register with ZixCorp, please send us an email at
[email protected].

Step 2:
Complete the participation form. Open the URL link below to register or sign-on to
NCUA’s CyberGrants system. The electronic form will be available once you log-in.
Participation Form - Streamlined Certification Application Program
This completes the requirements to participate in the program. You will receive an
email confirming that NCUA received your participation form.
If you have any issues, please contact our office at [email protected].

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018

The CDFI Fund’s Contact Information
The CDFI Fund’s helpdesk contact information for their various services is provided
below. Please allow 48 to 72 hours for a response.
For questions that are programmatic in nature (e.g. questions about the certification
criteria or how to answer a specific question), e-mail [email protected].
For questions that are technical and related to using AMIS and the myCDFI Fund
system, in particular questions regarding AMIS accounts (e.g. I can’t get into my AMIS
account, or I’m having technical trouble submitting my CDFI certification application),
email [email protected].
The AMIS specific helpdesk contact info and AMIS instruction manuals on the CDFI
Fund website are available on this link: https://amis.cdfifund.gov/s/AMISHome.
For non-AMIS technical issues and questions, email [email protected].
For questions that are related to the Funding Programs at the CDFI Fund, email the
CDFI Help Desk at [email protected].
Additional helpdesk contact information can be located on the CDFI Fund’s website.
Follow this link: https://www.cdfifund.gov/pages/contact.aspx.

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Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion
NCUA-CDFI Initiative Program Guide • 2018