WASHINGTON–America’s Credit Unions Governmental Affairs Conference held its first full day on Monday, with remarks by NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman, an advocacy panel discussion, and a session on storytelling, in addition to other events and news (see separate reporting).
Below is a look a those three sessions. Editor’s Note: The following reporting is based on information provided by America’s Credit Unions.
Hauptman: Three Significant Goals Accomplished
Looking back at his tenure on the NCUA board, Kyle Hauptman said he accomplished three significant goals: Improving examination processes at the agency, advancing digital assets, and streamlining the Administration’s operations.
Exam improvements, restructuring, and the agency’s Deregulation Project are an example of “looking from top to bottom” at everything it could that was outdated, could save time, or wasn’t necessary in the current environment, Hauptman noted.
“In the end, some of the documents we asked for during each exam, some of the individual rulemakings, they had a purpose, the people who wrote it weren’t crazy. But these just kind of stack up and up and up,” he said, leading the agency to remove extraneous processes and requirements. “We did a top-to-bottom look at the agency at everything we could do that saves time… if our examiners are spending time doing something, it better be worth it. Our restructure, I think was done very thoughtfully, and every single thing we do, every mouse click, was reevaluated for who, does what, in what manner, how often.”
He also encouraged credit unions to provide feedback on each of the proposals issued under the Deregulation Project, current and forthcoming.
Panel: Some Best Practices When it Comes to Advocacy
“A major question in advocacy is: what is your relative strength? And the strength of credit unions is in this room,” said America’s Credit Unions Senior Vice President of Advocacy Greg Mesack. “Credit unions have people. They have a mission, a story, grassroots… Every single credit union in this room can walk into a meeting with member of Congress, or to the administration and say: here’s what I did this week to make someone’s life better. Big banks can’t do that.”
The panel looked at personal impact stories as the most effective way to reach lawmakers and to be memorable when they are considering legislation. Echoing this, America’s Credit Unions Head of Regulatory Advocacy James Akin recalled his experience working with the administration and how to make meetings stand apart.
“The meetings that stood out were ones that had specific issues that we could fix, and that were framed in a way to show solutions or victories for both sides, the administration, and for the people asking. Those are the ones that get people to follow up, to get people to say, ‘Hey, that’s really interesting, I never thought of that, here are the things I can do about it, please, let’s stay in touch and keep this moving.’ If you’re specific, and you make sure that what you are doing is something that can be changed, you’re going get a lot further.”
Unified Voice
League and credit union advocates commented on the importance of unified voice in advocacy, according to the trade group. Amy Broderson, president/CEO of Family Focus Federal Credit Union, furthered this point while also urging the audience to keep members in mind during advocacy efforts.
“Whether you’re big or small, or you’re a $1 million credit union, or a $2 billion credit union, we all have very similar missions, and our stories are the same. For example, the increase of fraud was brought up backstage, and over and over from colleagues this week. Yesterday it was part of the Small Credit Union Roundtable,” she said. “It’s a threat to all of us. It’s something we’re all engaged in daily with our members. Who better to tell this story than us? We can’t sit this out. We need to be at the table. Your members depend on it.”
How to Tell the CU Story
To tackle the affordability concerns for consumers every day, it is important for advocates to connect the dots for lawmakers to fully understand credit unions impact on consumer affordability, attendees at one session were told.
First Service Credit Union President/CEO David Bleazard joined America’s Credit Unions Chief Membership and Engagement Office Anthony Demangone, Vice President of Strategic Communications Cassie Blake, and Head of Political Affairs Trey Hawkins to discuss the importance of drilling down the credit union difference to show how policy impacts real people.
“Politicians represent people and that’s ultimately who they want to hear about,” said Blake.
Example Shared
Bleazard shared examples of programs already at work in his own credit union that result in real economic empowerment for members. “We don’t need to be legislated to help our members—that’s the mission,” he added.
The group also discussed how to train staff to recognize “moments of magic” in capturing stories that should be elevated and highlighted. “Credit unions can’t miss the opportunity to take the everyday moments that are lifechanging for members and use them as differentiators between our competitors,” said Demangone.
Hawkins provided important data showing that the public already trusts credit unions as effective affordable financial partners and with affordability a priority issue, illustrating these facts with lawmakers is key as attendees prepare to head to Capitol Hill later this week.
