WASHINGTON -
"I hope to see a time when credit unions are easier to start," said Chip Filson, CEO of CU consultancy Callahan & Associates. "I would like to see less regulatory barriers to that. De novo banks are starting up at 200 a year or more, and it's big news when we have five or six new credit unions."
NAFCU CEO Fred Becker agreed. "If you look at us compared to the banks, credit unions are doing better," he said. "The difficulty we have, unfortunately, is there aren't any new credit unions being started."
In addition to regulatory hurdles, a primary barrier to starting new credit unions is the issue of capitalization, Becker added.
But some have suggested the biggest hurdle of all related to regulation or capitalization, but is simply self-interest? Why start a credit union, after all, and simply be rewarded by knowing you've made a contribution to society, when you can start a bank and walk away a millionaire?
But John Weiser, an author and an expert in not-for-profits who has been working with the National Credit Union Foundation, said it doesn't have to be that way.
"All businesses that face toward the customer (as opposed to business-to-business) have a lot of cynicism or concern about whether they can have any latitude to 'do the right thing,' because there is so much pressure from others in the industry," said Weiser, who is with the firm Brody Weiser Burns, which says it is "dedicated to strengthening the efforts of organizations to create a more just society."
Serving the underserved and offering better benefits to employees are great, but Amazon and Wal-Mart put such a squeeze on that others feel they have to offer the best price or they won't be in business," Weiser related. "But there is evidence that consumers do want to see organizations do the right thing."
Case in point: Green Mountain Coffee. Its fastest growing product is Fair Trade Certified Coffee-that's coffee that the company promises was made in ways that were kind to the environment, among other "feel good" benefits.
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For info: www.brodyweiser.com.
Additional info: www.cujournal.com, enter John Weiser in the search box and read about his remarks before a recent National Credit Union Foundation-sponsored event.
