Credit Union Journal - January 16, 2017

As the new Congress and administration take shape, the credit union trade association is ramping up lobbying efforts even as it celebrates a major milestone.

The hurdles for bank-to-CU conversions are in almost all cases too big to for for-profit institutions to overcome and still operate responsibly.

The Senate Banking Committee will have six fresh faces in the new Congress as Republicans grapple with a slimmer majority.

The House Financial Services Committee will see a shuffling of deck chairs among the leadership of its subcommittees in the new Congress as it also welcomes ten new Republican members.

2016 was another year of record growth for credit unions, but with several interest rate increases expected next year and inflation on the rise, will the good times keep rolling?

The latest news about Yahoo’s massive 2013 data breach – which impacted more than 1 billion users – is a reminder to credit unions that there is no end to crooks (cyber or otherwise) trying to compromise consumers’ data

The data shows an increase in delinquency rates for consumers with poor credit, but the bulk of the subprime loans that are performing poorly right now aren't coming from credit unions.

The potential for growth as a result of NCUA’s revised field-of-membership rule could be dwarfed by the costs of the technology needed to make the most of the opportunity.

CUNA and NAFCU are pushing for massive changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2017, along with reg reform and protecting recent changes to NCUA rules that seek to expand how credit unions do business.

A number of credit unions have already begun to raise their minimum wage – in some cases doubling the federal minimum – but it remains to be seen if legislative action or market pressures spread the trend more widely.

Credit union technology executives and analysts suggest the industry must collaborate to work on three primary areas: cybersecurity, data and business intelligence and digital-first strategies.