<p>ALEXANDRIA Va, – CUSOs may not service loans made to credit union members by other, non-credit union, financial institutions, even when that servicing might be a convenience to credit union members, according to NCUA. In a February 5 legal opinion letter to 1st United Federal Credit Union in San Jose, California, Sheila Albin, NCUA Associate General Counsel wrote: "To qualify as a permissible CUSO activity, an activity must relate to the routine, daily operations of credit unions. 12 C.F.R. ?712.5, " she wrote. " In this case, the servicing of the loans is a service to a lender that is not a credit union. Although arguably members derive a benefit from the lending program, the loan servicing by the CUSO is not a service to the member." Albin distinguished between the servicing of non-credit union loans that 1st United has proposed and the referral and processing of loans for credit union members who cannot qualify for a loan from the credit union. Providing those types of referrals and processing, albin wrote, "relates to the daily operations of a federal credit union." 1st United is a $20 million credit union with 2,999 members.</p>