PayThink

Editor’s Note: this letter was written in response to “NCUA Warns of Tougher Supervisory Stance” (CU Journal Daily Briefing, July 11).

Can you really understand the plight of the underserved if you are eating a $17 slice of pie?

Recent CU Journal Views and Opinions writers have correctly addressed the need for credit unions to maintain relevance with their membership. One writer suggested we “wake up and smell the coffee.”

There are few moments of truth in our business, but when they come it makes everything we do worthwhile. They come when you get a letter of thanks from a grateful member or when you’re recognized for your work by your peers.

The mortgage lending industry can be likened to commercial fishing, and we see two distinctive types of fisherman competing within the space. The big-bank national mortgage lenders act as a fleet of large, modern fishing trawlers, casting and dragging their huge nets through wide swaths of the lending seas. They have countless branch offices bobbing along suburban streets like an endless line of floats. The second type of lender–local lenders such as community banks and credit unions–function like local fishermen with fewer resources, smaller boats, less bait and a few private fishing holes they try to keep secret.

Gas prices are going up. Home sales and new home starts aren’t going anywhere. And grocery prices are starting to make gas look cheap. Yes, if feels like overnight our economy went from busting through the seams to just plain bust. And everyone is being asked to find more business while spending less money.

Earlier this year during Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show one of the speakers, who has had some terrific success in growing a small business into a large one, urged credit unions to finally “come out of the closet” and admit to being a cooperative.

Regarding CUNA CEO Dan Mica’s salary surpassing $1 million, once again it looks like we got the best leadership money can buy. So this must explain where all that CUNA dues money is going.

In the last year, the subprime issue has upended the mortgage market; numerous trading firms and banks have declared huge losses, and the dollar’s value has even dipped below the Loonie. Americans are overwhelmed with this financial upheaval and are seeking stability and credibility.

First there was (and is) CURIA, and with it much hope and optimism and, naturally, lots of PAC money. And then there was (and is) CURRA, and with it there was tempered hope and semi-resigned optimism, but still, naturally, lots of PAC money. And now there is (and may be) CUBTRRA, which is about as easy to pronounce as it is to deduce whether credit unions should be pleased or pickled over it. Regardless, there is still expected to be lots of PAC money.