The number NCUA uses to identify a credit union in its records and call report files. It is the surest way to tell apart credit unions with similar names.
NCUA assigns each credit union a charter number and uses it across its records. The quarterly call report data files are organized by it, and NCUA’s public locator finds a credit union by address, by name or by charter number.
It matters in a loan search because credit union names repeat. Many share words such as community, federal, first or the name of a town, and a name can change after a merger. The charter number points to one institution, so use it when you look up a call report, compare two lenders or tell a broker which credit union you mean.
It plays the same part for credit unions that the FDIC certificate number plays for banks. Banks have no charter number in NCUA’s files, and credit unions have no FDIC certificate.
When you contact a credit union about a business loan you will not need the number. It earns its place before that, in the research: checking that the lender whose loan figures you read is the same lender whose phone number you are about to call.
How it shows up in the data here
Every credit union on this site is keyed by its charter number. It is the CU_NUMBER column in the NCUA 5300 call report files, shown on the lender page, and the lender ID takes the form NCUA- followed by the number. The same number ties a credit union to its SBA loans where the SBA file can be tied to it. Find a record through credit union search.
Go further
- Search credit unions: Every credit union row, with filters.
- Sources: The NCUA files this site reads.
- How to read a credit union's 5300 call report: Credit unions file their own call report, NCUA Form 5300, every quarter. For commercial loans it says more than a bank's report does: it counts the loans, and it reports what was made during the year.
Related terms
- NCUA 5300 call report: The financial report every natural person credit union files with NCUA each quarter. It is the public source for what a credit union lends and holds.
- FDIC certificate number: The unique number the FDIC assigns to each bank and savings institution, used to identify it in FDIC records.
- RSSD ID: The unique number the Federal Reserve assigns to a bank, credit union, holding company or other financial entity as its identifier in Federal Reserve records.
- Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): A unique 20-character code, issued under the ISO 17442 standard, that identifies a legal entity anywhere in the world.
- Credit union: A member-owned cooperative lender. It lends to the people and businesses inside its field of membership and files a call report with NCUA every quarter.
Sources
- NCUA, Credit Union and Corporate Call Report Data, retrieved .
- NCUA, CUOnline (Profile and Call Report), retrieved .
Plain definitions for orientation, not legal, tax or credit advice. A lender's own policy decides what it will do.