Vienna, VA · Credit union · NCUA · $197 billion assets · 80,547 loans in 2025
80,547
loans originated, 2025
179,597
applications, 2025
51
states and territories
1
gaps bigger than at similar lenders
How to read this section
For Black, Hispanic and Asian applicants, we look at how much more often Navy Federal Credit Union turns them down than White
applicants: the gap. Then we compare that gap with the gap at similar lenders, for similar applications: the same
income, loan size, debt-to-income range, loan-to-value, loan type, kind of property and place.
"Bigger gap" means we are at least 99% sure the gap is bigger than at similar lenders. That is a reason to look
closer, not proof of discrimination. The public data has no credit scores and none of the documents a lender
reviews, and the kind of loans a lender makes can widen a gap for good reasons. Each result below gives the numbers
and the explanations they allow.
FIG. 1 — GAPS AGAINST SIMILAR LENDERS
Navy Federal Credit Union's gap is bigger than at similar lenders for Black refinance applicants.
Each dot compares Navy Federal Credit Union's gap with the gap at similar lenders: at 1x they are the same, at 2x its gap is twice as large. A gap is how much more likely the group is to be turned down than White applicants. The line around each dot shows the range the true value probably lies in (95%). Amber: groups where we are at least 99% sure the gap is bigger.
SOURCE: FFIEC HMDA 2025; JENNER ANALYTICS NATIONAL DENIAL MODEL
Black refinance
Navy Federal Credit Union's gap for Black refinance applicants is bigger than at similar lenders.
How sure we are that the gap is bigger than at similar lenders: 99.3%.
Of the refinance applications it decided in 2025, it turned down 54% of 2,417 from Black applicants and 30% of 5,117 from White applicants. The most common reason: too much debt for the income, given for 44% of the Black applicants turned down and 35% of the White applicants turned down.
Navy Federal lends to members of the armed forces, veterans and their families. Most of its refinance applicants (61%) want to take cash out, which adds to their debt, and too much debt for the income is the main reason it turns down refinance applicants of both groups.
It gives poor credit history as the reason more often for Black applicants (20% of those turned down, against 14% of White applicants). The public data has no credit scores or credit histories, so our comparison cannot allow for them. A difference in credit between the groups applying would produce a gap like this one.
FIG. 2 — REASONS FOR TURNING APPLICANTS DOWN, 2025
Why applications were turned down, beside White applicants at the same lender.
Each bar is 100% of the applications the lender decided for that group; the coloured part was turned down, split by the main reason the lender gave, and the rest were approved. Applications the applicant withdrew are not counted.
SOURCE: FFIEC HMDA 2025, FIRST REASON GIVEN
Applicants
Turned down: group
Turned down: White
How sure the gap is bigger
Result
Hispanic purchase
13%
8%
66.0%
Not clearly bigger
Hispanic refinance
49%
30%
96.2%
Not clearly bigger
Black purchase
20%
8%
97.8%
Not clearly bigger
Black refinance
54%
30%
99.3%
Bigger gap than at similar lenders
Asian purchase
11%
8%
50.6%
Not clearly bigger
Asian refinance
43%
30%
80.0%
Not clearly bigger
"How sure the gap is bigger": how sure we are that the lender's gap is bigger than at similar lenders. We call it bigger at 99% or more.