As House and Senate lawmakers work to reconcile their versions of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, the American Bankers Association — along with the Independent Community Bankers of America and the Association of Military Banks of America — today wrote to conference committee members urging them to include in the final bill a House provision that would level the playing field between credit unions and banks serving military bases.
Banks are currently required pay rent for the use of facilities on military bases according to a “fair market value” determined on a facility-by-facility basis, “often times with ineffective and unfair outcomes, forcing many banks to leave military bases in recent years,” ABA pointed out. The amendment would require the Department of Defense to accept the value of services provided by military banks as full payment on any lease, service and utility costs for the space they occupy on military installations.
Credit unions have enjoyed this benefit for more than 10 years, and in that time, 50 military bases have lost their only banks, ABA noted. “This exodus has left many military communities with the options of only being served by non-regulated establishments off base or a credit union on base, depriving them of a choice in secure financial institutions.”
