BankThink

Credit unions have checked out of the Washington Hilton after 30 years, which is a mighty long stay in a hotel. Paid the bill. Said their good-byes. Hilton GAC vets will take with them a million snapshots, forever remembering...

Word-of-mouth and reputation are two key motivators of why people do business with financial institutions. That's why it's critical to understand how members and potential members perceive their experiences at various points of contact. This knowledge impacts how credit unions can more effectively attract new members, generate increased deposits and reduce attrition.

Congratulations to any and all credit unionists who can Hike the Hill this week for CUNA's GAC and do so with a straight face. Because you've come a long way, baby, and the ability to talk one game while walking another is the true hallmark of a Washington insider, and isn't that what credit unions set out to do a decade ago?

A large-scale natural or man-made disaster in the 21st century is a frightening possibility. The financial services industry learned valuable lessons from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons and from the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The "modest means" study, MSAP, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report are fading into the credit union movement's rear-view mirror. No startling revelations, no damning findings, no sweeping legislative recommendations-and thanks to Congressional transitions, no adversarial Ways and Means Chairman to lead an offensive against credit unions. Actually, it was all a little anticlimactic.

There is so much more that credit unions want to do to better serve consumers-and much that CUNA wants to do to help credit unions do that. Yet, the hard fact is that, sometimes, credit unions need to secure some changes in law or regulations just to create a more flexible operating environment in which to thrive.

As the new, 110th Congress settles down to business, credit unions will once again be seeking needed relief from outdated and burdensome regulations in an updated version of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act, or CURIA. NAFCU has been working with Reps. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) and Ed Royce (R-CA), the original cosponsors of the previous versions of the bill, to help ready the latest iteration of this vital legislation, and we hope it will be ready for introduction very soon.

The media and political discussions surrounding who credit unions are supposed to serve experienced a transition since the House Ways and Means Committee hearings on tax-exempt justification.

With the recent increase in postal rates, some credit unions may be considering migrating to electronic documents and delivery channels, even though reports show that an overwhelming majority (between 85% to 90%) of consumers still prefer to receive their statements in the mail and pay bills with a paper check.

A robust financial system should have a variety of financial institution charter options, by type-such as a commercial bank, thrift, credit union; chartering jurisdiction-state or federal; and organizational form- stock corporation or mutual.