Ensweiler Opines on the Credit Union Difference

LAS VEGAS –A group of people “passionate” about credit unions is trying to figure out why most Americans are not. Dick Ensweiler, president of the Texas league and chair of CUNA’s new Membership Growth Task Force, said the group is considering nine questions related to credit union growth, but all of it really comes down to one challenge. “As credit union leaders, here we are believing in service to members and in the credit union difference,” Ensweiler told the Credit Union Journal during America's Credit Union Conference here. “But 70% of Americans don’t belong. Why are we so passionate and they’re not? Where are we missing the boat? There seems to be this huge disconnect.” Ensweiler noted credit unions talk about being not-for-profit cooperatives, yet in focus groups consumers say those things don’t really matter. “We have to ask, ‘Are we on the wrong course?’” Or, is the issue that credit unions simply aren’t communicating well, he posited. If credit unions are to agree on a common brand, the issue must be answered, Ensweiler said. He noted that a related issue is that in areas where there are multiple CU community charters, credit unions spend time and money differentiating themselves from each other, rather than from banks. “It all sounds simple, but it isn’t,” he said.