PayThink

I hesitate to re-enter the CU trade press frenzy surrounding CU-to-bank conversions. I've been criticized by both sides for some of my views. The Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) has not changed its stance one iota on conversions. We think they should be permitted as long as they are done properly. We will continue to weigh in from time to time to make sure the process keeps getting better. That's what trade associations are supposed to do.

In one of the finest pieces of oratory ever delivered by an American, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. famously proclaimed, "I have a dream." But were Dr. King a credit union executive, he likely would have been forced to add, "And I'm prepared to wait. And wait. And wait."

Some ten years ago we were perhaps a bit audacious in this space in comparing the launch of this brand new publication, The Credit Union Journal, by making a reference to 19th century credit union pioneer Fredrick Raiffeisen. Call it a stretch goal, one the Credit Union Journal continues to stretch to meet with every issue.

NAFCU is calling for several changes by NCUA to a proposed rule on nontraditional mortgage products.

What will we remember most when we reflect on 2006?

What did CUNA achieve for credit unions in the year now ending? Plenty. Here, in no particular order of importance, is a look back at some accomplishments for the year:

What is the face of credit unions? Most likely, you're inside the credit union community and you have an "inside" answer-the trade groups or delegations hiking their respective Hills or that glossy photo of the board of directors you've framed in every branch.

"What's our next marketing campaign and how will it be done?" Even credit unions with comprehensive marketing plans can sometimes find themselves scratching their heads with this question at times. After that question is finally answered, the challenge then becomes putting together a marketing campaign on time and within budget.

The July 31 issue of The Credit Union Journal featured an article entitled, "How to give paper, microfiche the COLD shoulder." This article overlooked the benefits of workflow as part of an enterprise content management (ECM) system. Once known simply as document imaging and COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk), ECM is a term that has evolved to include a wide variety of applications common to most credit unions such as document imaging, workflow, electronic document management, COLD/ECM and records management-all important applications for a credit union of any size.

For 75 years, the American credit union member has been defining himself and herself without the assistance of bankers or government. And it has been our modest assessment that we are a "working class of people" who raise our families, grow our communities, pay our taxes, and honestly tend to the general welfare of our nation. This modesty does not mean we are a class of shrinking violets. To the contrary, bankers, business and government have repeatedly relied upon us to bail them out from the immodest excesses of power, privilege and money. We have even carried them through their cyclical loses in business confidence, put up with their alligator tears about how difficult their tasks are and how little they are compensated for their hard work. And all the while, we have successfully raised the bar on our modesty by becoming a larger, smarter and more prosperous economic force.