WASHINGTON–The Defense Credit Union Council is urging Congress to strengthen fraud prevention measures and ensure credit unions receive equal treatment in pending digital asset legislation, according to two comment letters submitted to House and Senate lawmakers.
In a letter to the House Financial Services Committee ahead of a committee markup, DCUC said it supports legislation focused on fraud prevention, artificial intelligence and financial regulatory modernization.
DCUC is urging lawmakers to strengthen protections against AI-enabled fraud, improve elder fraud investigations and recovery efforts, modernize supervisory technology and expand smaller financial institutions’ access to artificial intelligence tools.
Reflects ‘Practical Needs’
“Of all the measures scheduled for markup, this legislation most directly reflects the practical needs we have highlighted in recent hearings and letters,” Jason Stverak, DCUC’s chief advocacy officer, said in the statement.
DCUC President and CEO Anthony Hernandez said defense credit unions need the ability to adopt emerging technologies while protecting servicemembers, veterans and military families from increasingly sophisticated fraud threats.
The organization also encouraged Congress and regulators to incorporate military- and veteran-specific fraud trends into future studies and interagency coordination efforts.
Comment Sent to Senate
Separately, DCUC submitted comments to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs regarding pending digital asset legislation—the Clarity Act–urging lawmakers to ensure federally insured credit unions are treated on equal footing with banks.
DCUC expressed support for provisions that would provide statutory clarity allowing federal credit unions to use digital assets and distributed ledger technology in activities already authorized under the Federal Credit Union Act.
“If Congress gives credit unions a clear, workable, and fair pathway into digital-asset services, millions of Americans will be able to access these services through institutions that are trusted, member-owned, and deeply invested in financial education and fraud prevention,” Stverak said.
NCUA Must be Included
DCUC also called on lawmakers to explicitly include the National Credit Union Administration in references to federal prudential regulators and ensure credit unions and credit union service organizations receive the same operational clarity provided to banks and their affiliates.
The organization further advocated for tiered compliance standards and safe harbors tied to institutional size and risk exposure, warning that a one-size-fits-all regulatory structure could disproportionately burden smaller financial institutions.
