Know thy enemy.
On page 1 of this issue, we have a story that explores the two recent lawsuits filed against the National Credit Union Administration from the banker perspective.
I've written about credit unions long enough to know that some of our readers are likely to take umbrage at that — displeased that a publication for and about credit unions would choose to focus on the arguments being made by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and the American Bankers Association (ABA) and some individual banking executives.
But such readers must not be very familiar with Sun Tzu.
Over the years, I have seen some CU executives show a tendency to be somewhat insular. They correctly believe that credit unions know credit unions best. They correctly support lawmakers who have actively fought on behalf of credit unions. They correctly reward vendors who demonstrate a strong kinship with credit unions.
But they incorrectly turn a blind eye to the competition. It can be a costly mistake. To fight your enemy, you need to know all you can about them.
And it goes beyond that. Despite the admiration I have for credit unions that have chosen marketing taglines that have essentially said, "we're just like banks, only better,” the fact of the matter is, there are banks that are doing some great things worth modeling (and if you can improve upon what you've learned when adapting such lessons to your credit union, so much the better).
But it's never wise to ignore your enemy.
That's why Credit Union Journal saw fit to put a story that focuses on banks on
Sure, you might be familiar with what the banking trade groups have to say on these issues — but hearing individual banking executives say it in their own words can bring a much deeper insight into why they're passionate about this.
And that insight can really come in handy when you're fighting a war on two fronts. As one observer put it, this one-two legal punch represents an unprecedented challenge. Credit unions will need every weapon at their disposal.
Editor in Chief Lisa Freeman can be reached at
