Navy Federal Tweaks Anti-Robbery Policy

The biggest credit union in the U.S. has modified its policy on head coverings in branches to move the emphasis away from whether a member's head is covered to whether the member's full face can be seen.

The $36 billion Navy Federal's previous policy which required credit union members to remove head coverings when they entered credit union branches had led to complaints from a muslim female member who had been asked to conduct her transaction in a another room at the branch because she wore a head covering for religious reasons.

“The policy is that head coverings for religious reasons, cultural reasons, economic reasons are all acceptable, as long as we can see the members full face,” explained Tom Lyons, senior vice president for security for the Vienna, Virginia based federal credit union. “Our emphasis is on safety of our members and on preventing robberies and identity theft,” he said.

Lyons said the credit union had begun to implement the policy of asking members to remove head coverings and sun glasses when entering the branch as the economic downturn had begun to make robberies more likely.