WASHINGTON–America’s Credit Unions is saying the banking industry has “shown their cards” in a new proposal that calls for credit unions of more than $1 billion in assets to lose their tax exemption.

As the CU Daily reported here, theindependent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has introduced a new resolution that seeks to end what it called the “unwarranted federal tax subsidies for the nation’s largest credit unions.”

The new policy resolution was announced during the ICBA LIVE 2025 national convention in Nashville, Tenn., and comes at a time Congress is hunting around for ways to pay for extending President Trump’s tax cuts.

““It seems like every day the credit union industry faces a new attack from the bank lobby, but this time, they’ve really shown their cards,” said America’s Credit Unions CEO Jim Nussle in a statement. “Shifting their target away from all credit unions to now just the largest in the industry, shows they know their message is weak with lawmakers and consumers alike. This isn’t about the millions of Americans who will suffer without access to a credit union, this is about credit union competition chipping away at the banks’ own bottom lines. 

“For decades, banks have taken advantage of taxpayers for their own profit: they enjoy Subchapter S subsidies, make risky decisions that consequentially rip away people’s American dreams, abandon communities, and get bailed out by the government when they overstep,” Nussle continued in the statement. “Over 140 million American consumers have chosen credit unions as their financial partner because the industry has proven it is safe, and we care about people, and we will step up – in good times and bad. Credit unions have remained a vital part of the financial services marketplace for a reason.”

Bankers’ Statement

Earlier, in calling for credit unions to lose their tax exemption, ICBA President and CEO Rebecca Romero Rainey, said, “With credit union acquisitions of tax-paying community banks reaching a record high last year, the growing skepticism of credit unions’ tax and regulatory exemptions must evolve into policymaker action,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a statement. “Eliminating the federal tax exemption for credit unions over $1 billion in assets will help ensure taxpayer dollars no longer tilt the competitive marketplace, subsidize community banking consolidation, and result in fewer choices for consumers and small businesses.” 

Additional Credit Union Response

In releasing Nussle’s statement, America’s Credit Unions also stated:

•  A tax on credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets would represent a tax increase on many members who rely on their credit union.

Example: There are 74 military-focused credit unions that serve more than 35 million servicemembers, veterans, and military families. The banks’ proposal would raise taxes on all of them in the name of “fairness.”

• Regardless of asset size, all credit unions share a mission to provide safe and affordable financial services to members and communities the banks have left behind.
• Not a single bank has been forced to sell to a credit union.
• 84% of bank to credit union asset sales involved low-income designated credit unions.
• Half of all bank CEOs cite keeping local branches open and preserving a community focus as their reason for selling to a credit union
• Every bank sale to a credit union averages a 25% tax on the purchase price.
• Bank sales to credit unions are rare when viewed against the backdrop of overall bank sales.
• Since 2022, roughly 4% of total assets in bank sales transactions involved a credit union.
• Since 2012, less than 1% of total assets in bank sales transactions involved a credit union. 
• Over a 10 year period, $234.6 billion – or more than $23 billion per year – in total benefits went to U.S. consumers from the significant presence of credit unions in financial markets.