More than a decade after disaffiliating from Credit Union National Association, Pentagon Federal Credit Union has rejoined CUNA following a unanimous vote from the credit union's board of directors.
PenFed is the second high-profile reaffiliation with CUNA in recent months, following North Carolina's State Employees CU
PenFed dropped its membership with the trade association in 2003 out of a belief that it was already being adequately served by membership with the National Association of Federal Credit Unions and the Defense Credit Union Council. In choosing to reaffiliate, PenFed President and CEO James Schenck praised the leadership of CUNA CEO Jim Nussle and National Credit Union Foundation Director Gigi Hyland for "representing and growing the credit union movement and our collective mission of financial literacy."
While PenFed plans to maintain its NAFCU and DCUC memberships, Schenck pledged that the credit union will be an active member of CUNA .
"PenFed is committed to supporting the entire credit union community, as it is under attack with excessive regulation which has a disproportionate impact on the small and mid-size credit unions," he said. "CUNA represents nearly all 6,000 of our nation's credit unions and 100 million members. So I hope PenFed's renewed membership in CUNA sends a clear signal that PenFed is focused on helping credit unions of all sizes succeed in serving their members. We look forward to supporting the Credit Union Awareness Initiative and other programs advocated by CUNA and the National Credit Union Foundation to help America's credit unions grow even stronger."
Many in the credit union movement have long bemoaned an excess of trade groups serving a shrinking number of institutions, but Schenck said those criticisms are unwarranted.
"The more voices we have representing credit unions, the more powerful the movement will be on Capitol Hill, in regulatory agencies and in the military services," he said.
CUNA's Nussle praised Schenck and PenFed for coming back into the fold.
"We are proud to partner with an organization dedicated to supporting those who serve this country," said Nussle. "It is fantastic to have all of PenFed's 1.4 million members as part of our collective voice as the CUNA-League system continues to strengthen credit union advocacy and grow credit union market share. We are stronger together."
