CDCU Launches “Remittance Corridor” with Federal Reserve, Mexican Consulate - National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions

Congresswoman Hahn, Consul General Figueroa Ortega, Federal Reserve & Federation, Join in Announcement of New Partnership

Family Federal Credit Union Logo (November 21, 2011 – Wilmington, CA) Remittances of cash between Mexicans living in the United States and their families back home in Mexico totaled $22.6 billion in 2010, yet according to research by Manuel Orozco of the Pew Hispanic Research Center, many Latin American remittance senders living in the United States do not have a bank account, with 35 percent of Ecuadorians, 64 percent of Salvadorans and 75 percent of Mexican immigrants being unbanked. Billions of dollars are being sent by immigrants in the U.S. to their families back home, yet a large percentage of these transactions have been taking place outside of the regulated financial system, often at a significant cost to the individuals sending the money.

To address this issue, the Federal Reserve Bank and the Mexican Consulate have been partnering with U.S. based financial institutions to lower the cost of sending remittances to Mexico, provide safe and affordable financial services increase the speed and safety of transactions, and reduce the number of unbanked in the U.S. and Mexico by encouraging them to work with regulated financial institution on both sides of the border.

Photo of Mexican Consul General David Figueroa Ortega, Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Lucia Moreno-Linares; Rafael O. Morales; Father Luis Valbuena, OMI; Lupe Lopez, and Jorge Jimenez. Photo of

(From left to right) Mexican Consul General David Figueroa Ortega, Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Family FCU CEO Lucia Moreno-Linares; Federation West Coast Program Officer Rafael O. Morales; Family FCU Founder Father Luis Valbuena, OMI; Wilmington Honorary Mayor Lupe Lopez, and Federal Reserve Bank Director of FedGlobal ACH Payments Jorge Jimenez.

On Saturday, November 12, Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Mexico Consul General David Figueroa Ortega, Federal Reserve Bank Director of FedGlobal ACH Payments Jorge Jimenez; and National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions West Coast Program Officer Rafael O. Morales, joined Family FCU CEO Lucia Moreno-Linares and more than 250 members of Family Federal Credit Union during the CDCU’s 29th Annual Meeting, to announce the launch of the newest collaboration, Financial Corridors to Mexico: Los Angeles to Mexico.

Congresswoman Janice Hahn, who previously served as the Los Angeles City Council representative for the credit union and was elected in a special election this past summer, praised the work of Family Federal Credit Union and the important role it plays providing affordable financial services in the community.

Consul General David Figueroa Ortega stressed the need to educate Mexicans living in the United States and the importance of financial education to their prosperity.

Representatives from three Mexican Cajas (credit unions) also atended the launch event, including Ignacio Macías Mercado from Caja Popular Agustín de Iturbide; Marco Estrada and Jaime Carrillo from Finamigo; and Alejandro Olvera Cano from Caja de la Sierra Gorda.

Photo of Family Federal Credit Union members at the event.

More than 225 members of Family Federal Credit Union attended the event.

At the event, the Mexican Consulate also announced that it its “consulate on wheels” would be visiting the credit union twice in the coming year, spending a month onsite to help Mexican immigrants quality for Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITINs), Matricula Consulares (Consular IDs) and other documents that legally allow them to be served by U.S. financial institutions.

“We are very excited to be working with the Federal Reserve, the Mexican Consulate, and the Mexican Cajas in this new Corredor,” explained Moreno-Linares.

“We have many members that can take advantage of this new program immediately, and literally thousands of potential members who could also benefit. I am optimistic that this initiative will help introduce new members to the benefits of our credit union and most importantly, help the community save hundreds of thousands of dollars in remittance fees each year... Money that is desperately needed during these difficult financial times,” she added.

Family Federal Credit Union is a low-income designated community development credit union (CDCU) serving nearly 2,000 low- and moderate-income predominantly Latino residents of Wilmington and surrounding areas. The credit union has assets of nearly $10 million.