The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) granted a new federal charter to the Firefighters First Federal Credit Union of Los Angeles, effective April 18.
It also granted the organization Share Insurance Fund coverage.
Firefighters First will serve the 510,000 employees and independent contractors who work in the fire protection industry in the United States. The credit union will serve its members from seven offices located throughout California, along with its call center, shared branching network, and online transaction services.
The new charter will enable Firefighters First to offer a full complement of consumer loan and share services to a broader membership base. NCUA also approved the credit union’s request for the designation of being chartered for the purpose of granting member business loans.
Firefighters First was originally chartered in 1935 by the state of California as the Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union. The credit union obtained federal insurance in 1975 but converted to private insurance in 1984 and changed its name to Firefighters First Credit Union in 2014. Prior to its conversion to a federal charter, Firefighters First served 37,000 members and had $1.18 billion in assets, making it one of the largest single-common-bond federal credit unions in the United States.