NCUA scraps two lending rules for credit unions
Two of the eleven deregulatory final rules NCUA published on 6 August 2026 remove the regulatory requirements on loans to other credit unions and the cap on indirect vehicle loans serviced by one third party. Both take effect on 8 September 2026.
NCUA published eleven final rules on 6 August 2026, nearly all of them deleting something. Two change how credit unions lend. Both take effect on 8 September 2026.
Loans to other credit unions
The first rule (91 FR 50664, 12 CFR part 701) removes NCUA's regulations on approving loans to other credit unions. The practical change is in the boardroom: federally insured credit union boards no longer have to adopt a written statement of aggregate limits on these loans.
The statute stays. NCUA says plainly that "federal credit unions remain subject to statutory requirements related to making loans to credit unions," so the limits in the Federal Credit Union Act still bind. Only the regulatory layer on top has gone.
Third-party servicing of indirect vehicle loans
The second rule (91 FR 50677, 12 CFR parts 701, 741 and 746) removes what NCUA called its "unnecessarily prescriptive regulation regarding third-party servicing of indirect vehicle loans." That regulation capped how much of a credit union's indirect vehicle portfolio a single third-party servicer could handle, as a share of net worth. The final rule takes out paragraph (h) of § 701.21 for federal credit unions and the matching provision in § 741.203(c) for federally insured state-chartered credit unions.
Who it reaches
Both rules apply to federal credit unions. The servicing rule also reaches federally insured state-chartered credit unions through part 741. State law may still impose its own limits on a state charter, so state-chartered credit unions should check their own regulator's rules before assuming the cap is gone for them too.
What it could mean
Mostly this is less paperwork, not a new strategy. Boards that already have a written limit on lending to other credit unions can now drop it. We doubt many will. If you lend to other credit unions you still have to stay inside the statutory cap, and a written limit is the easiest way to show you do.
The servicing change is the bigger deal for credit unions that grow through dealer paper. With the cap gone, the question becomes how much you're willing to depend on one servicer. That's a vendor risk call now, and it's yours. If one firm services half your auto book and it fails, or you end up in a dispute with it, a missing regulation won't soften the blow. Our guess is examiners will keep asking about servicer concentration anyway. Write down your own limit and why you picked it.
One small chore: search your lending procedures and servicing contracts for § 701.21(h). A citation to a deleted paragraph isn't a violation. It does confuse the next person who reads it.