WASHINGTON-In a finding that could be important as Congress considers key legislation for credit unions, a survey conducted by CUNA shows that 50% of registered voters polled would support credit unions over banks if a fight broke out in state legislature over 39% for banks.
The finding, coming at a time when banks' public image is being tarnished, is the first time in the 11 years the survey of 1,000 voters has been conducted that voters have favored credit unions.
Release of the survey comes as more than 4,000 credit union executives and directors are coming to Capitol Hill this week to lobby Congress as part of CUNA's annual Government Affairs Conference. "This tells Congress they're looking at people who vote, who will be politicalyl active and people who matter," said Richard Gose.
The survey was conducted Jan. 24-28 by Voter Consumer Research of Washington and well-known pollster Jan van Lohuizen, who has done polls for CUNA for many years. Several of the survey's findings could have important ramifications as credit unions lobby lawmakers the next two weeks for legislation that would expand business lending powers. According to Gose, in past years banks have had a three-point advantage in statehouse fights.
The one constant is the fierce loyalty of voters who consider credit unions their primary financial institution-95% of them side with credit unions. Another advantage is consumers' perceptions of credit unions versus banks. An overwhelming majority, 77%, say banks charge too much for services and fees, while only 15% say credit unions do.
And for the first time, more voters, 56%, said credit unions are financially safe and sound, compared to just 50% for banks. Gose found this finding significant. "For years," he said, "banks had anywhere from a 25-to-30 point advantage over credit unions on safety and soundness. Last year, all of a sudden, credit unions had 56% and banks 55%; this year, it's 56% to 50%."
Still, he noted, just 37% realize that credit unions have the same $250,000 federal deposit insurance as banks, while 76% of voters know about the bank coverage.
On the critical question of the tax exemption, 58% of voters agreed that credit unions deserve their tax exemption because of their not-for-profit status; while 29% agreed with a statement that some credit unions are as large as banks and have an unfair competitive advantage.
On the proposal to lift the current cap on member business loans it was difficult to ascertain voter preference. That's because of the wording. So 63% of voters surveyed said they agree with a proposal to increase business lending at credit unions to put an additional $10 billion into small businesses and create jobs, while just 27% said they agreed with the bankers' position that to do so would provide an unfair advantage to credit unions that don't pay taxes.
