Ken McCarthy

The state's Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will reduce assessments by 61% this year because of overpayments in 2020, helping state-chartered credit unions deal with economic fallout from the pandemic.

Larissa Thurston, who will also become the Massachusetts credit union's president, will succeed James Garvey, who is retiring.

The SAFE Banking Act would protect credit unions and banks that serve legal marijuana businesses from prosecution, but anti-money-laundering compliance will always be arduous, says Sundie Seefried, the head of a new company that helps credit unions work with cannabis firms.

The Las Vegas-based institution has joined a small group of credit unions whose assets top $1 billion, which make up less than 10% of the total industry.

Now known as Alltrust Credit Union, the Fairhaven, Mass.-based institution serves more than 14,000 members across New England.

Cal Poly Federal Credit Union's recent merger into SchoolsFirst highlights the difficult choice many small institutions face: diversify your field of membership or risk going out of business.

The Methuen, Mass.-based institution's newest CEO was born in the same town and has more than a decade of experience in the credit union industry.

A report to Congress from the National Credit Union Administration says the regulator has made "steady strides" toward greater diversity in its workforce and operations, but that progress is "just the beginning."

Some institutions for more than a year have reduced or eliminated overdraft and funds transfer fees to help members hard hit by the economic downturn, but it's unclear how much longer they can keep coasting on other sources of noninterest income.

As the World Council of Credit Unions and its Worldwide Credit Union Foundation work to advance cooperative finance around the globe, one of the industry's biggest players has committed to matching donations up to $1 million.