WASHINGTON–It’s Washington, so no surprise that there was a lot of talking when credit unions met this week for America’s Credit Unions GAC. But some of what was said was particularly memorable and insightful, and the CU Daily has compiled a “best of” list below.
The comments were drawn from GAC, as well as Mitchell Stankovic’s Underground, the Defense CU Council’s Defense Matters summit, the National Credit Union Foundation’s Herb Wegner Awards dinner, and the Worldwide Credit Union Foundation’s reception.
Below is a look at some of what was shared:
We’re a big credit union ($29.3 billion). At BECU we know that small credit unions matter hugely and are critical in this economy and environment. We know that we, the movement, have not done enough and are not doing enough to figure out a systemic viable sustainable approach for small credit unions. This iws a scale game. This is the conversation no one wants to talk about…There has to be a solution for small credit unions that serve rural communities that have been banking deserts forever. We have to do something to sustain small credit unions.
–Beverly Anderson, CEO, BECU
It’s no coincidence we meet under the slogan, ‘Children of the war.’ The greatest victims of this barbaric war are children.”
–Rafal Matusiak, president of Poland’s CU trade association, during an event at Ukraine House to raise funds for CUs in Poland and Ukraine
Whatever your political beliefs are, all of us have heard very, very clearly over the last several months that most Americans are feeling huge economic strain. If we can’t be the answer to that, why do we exist?
–Tansley Stearns, president and CEO, Community Financial Credit Union
To fight fraud, continue to challenge yourselves and continue to work with your technology providers, because the technology is there. But it’s also your willingness to be change drivers and a willingness to embrace technology that can help you and guide you.
Rahul Kumar, VP and GM of financial services and insurance with Talkdesk
When we worry about the future that should be our signal that we need to dig deeper and we need to find more reasons to live our purpose and do more. So, in this International Year of Cooperatives, let’s remember that everyone needs financial access, regardless of what you look like, what your background is, who you are. Everyone needs access to financial services. It is one of the key development issues that builds a bridge to financial freedom.”
Debbie Wege, BECU
TSA doesn’t even look at your boarding pass anymore. You have you look at a camera; they’re doing biometrics. What does that tell me? That tells me that that’s something we’re going to have to incorporate at some point down the line, whether it’s with our phones or on the computer.
–George Estrada, principal, strategic advisor, AWS
Most people lead the way they were led, but the tablestakes now are transparency inclusivity and feedback,” Quote Un explained. “Many leaders who were sitting in the leadership seat at that point really were not down with that. We were told, ‘Keep your head down, work hard and if you don’t get fired then you know you’re doing OK.’ But that kind of leadership style will not prevail in today’s environment.
Carla Harris, client advisor, vice chairman, Morgan Stanley
My cost per member (as a $116 million credit union) is exponentially higher than (larger credit unions). I encourage larger credit unions to bring us into your card and core conversations.
–Tyler Valentine, CEO, Stagepoint Credit Union
When I think about our industry it really comes down to a lot of talking, but we don’t do a lot of doing. I got in this industry almost 30 years ago when we talked about our aging demographic, we talked about the cost of technology and we talked about banks. And here we are talking about the same exact things.
Brin Allen, VP-insurance marketing and distribution, Franklin Madison
Let’s say your trusted financial provider Dan Daggett is going to call you and I’m going to ask you to write a check to me for $10,000 for a program you might be interested in, and in 12 months’ time, if everything goes well, I’m going to send you a check back for $6,000 of that $10,000? Why are credit unions writing that exact same check on their members’ behalf ? If you wouldn’t write it personally why would you write it for your members?
–Dan Daggett, chief strategy officer, Credit Unions First
If half of Americans can’t afford $400, half of Americans are on the brink of poverty. Why not change the narrative? Why not hit that straight in the face and say we are here to change poverty. Those are big words and you know it sounds scary, but this is how we can be really, really relative as credit unions. We are here to help the little guy. And the little guy could be making six figures and is still living paycheck to paycheck.
I think we can go out and we can change the world, but we’ve got to do it together.
Jennifer Oliver, president and CEO, Rize CU
Gone are the days of being a PFI. It’s no longer relevant. The average consumer has seven financial relationships on their phone.
Brian Hamilton, Origence
Love what you do, do it with passion and with people you like.
Never take yourself seriously but take your job seriously.
Listen to learn, not to respond.
Surround yourself with people different than you who have skills to compliment you.
Never be afraid of hiring people smarter than you.
Never be afraid to see them move on. That’s the multiplier of talent that will propel our industry to greatness.
Life/professional advice from Mike Valentine, CEO, BCU, in remarks after winning Herb Wegner Award
I’m thinking about something that really gets me fired up and that is how, largely, our credit union industry is missing the opportunity to serve the Latino market as a whole. I would venture to say we’re largely ignoring our Latino market. This is 65 million people. The Latino market has grown at twice the rate of the non-Latino white market. This will be $265 billion by 2030. How much of that is going to credit unions?
Miriam De Dios Woodward, president and CEO, De Dios Consulting
My challenge to you in this room, and I see it every day in conversations with credit unions, is do you actually know how to make an organic loan? So many credit unions are buying loans to fill their lending. I think it is an SOS. Does your staff have the expertise, the experience? Do you allow them to say yes to members and their loans?
Mike Beall, CEO, CU Strategic Planning
We stand by one another in times of struggle and we celebrate together in times of success, because when one of us is lifted, all of us are lifted. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.”
Elise Baldacci, CEO, Maine Credit Union League
There’s a retired naval captain named David Marquez who famously said that in most organizations the people at the top have all the authority and none of the information, while the people on the frontline have all the information and none of the authority. To brainstorm truly innovative ideas you need to bridge the gap between authority and information and there are very few ways better to do that than just getting everyone in a room together.”
Will Guidara, restauranteur, author
Friends don’t leave friends stranded and credit unions don’t leave their members stranded. And we have members as the World Council of Credit Unions that we do not want to leave stranded in this most critical time, where we need more global leadership, not less. And we need all of us: associations, leagues, system partners, credit unions, individuals who care about the issues we care about to step up and help us rally the movement
–Elissa McCarter Laborde, CEO, World Council of Credit Unions
“(The unspoken rules) are usually not written down in your HR employee handbook, but they do shape our experience at work. Ultimately, it’s about whether they can truly thrive. Many leaders don’t realize these unspoken rules exist until we find ourselves in a moment when things that have always been done don’t work. And that’s where we find ourselves right now.”
Dr. Ella F. Washington, Georgetown University
Meetings happen among (congressional) leadership at two in the morning when they can’t figure out where the votes are going to come from or how to pay for something. Frankly, the conversation goes like this: ‘Who can we afford to piss off? Who hasn’t been noisy enough this year? Who can we get away with a sneak attack on their tax status?’ That’s what we’re going to work on this week. We want them to hear (during Hill Hikes)) in those small rooms (on Capitol Hill) whether they can afford to tax us. This is a tax increase on America, not a tax sneak attack on credit unions.”
Jim Nussle, CEO, America’s Credit Unions
I call them ‘thriving small credit unions,’ not small credit unions.
Teri Robinson, CEO, Ironworkers FCU
Every payday lender that opens a credit union is shutting down.
Teri Robinson, Ironworkers FCU
Members want to move money as fast as possible without friction, but the easier you make, the easier you make it to commit fraud.
-Brandy Bruyere, Attorney, Honigman
A good leader is sometimes perceived to be somebody who can solve problems. The great leaders avoid a lot of problems, and they avoid a lot of problems if they have that type of intel because maybe you saw something that I didn’t see. But I never asked you. Now, what happens is instead of talking beforehand and then it never happens.
Mike Krzyzewski, Hall of Fame Basketball Coach, Duke University
(CUs) have better rates for members, and their presence causes banks to price in more consumer-friendly ways. That’s $37 billion in advantage just in the year ending September 30, 2024. By the way, the government estimates the cost of those benefits are about $3 billion, which means about a 1,300% return on the investment, which is amazing.”
Mike Schenk, chief economist, America’s Credit Unions
To stay ahead of (litigation over website pixels and data tracking), we want to know what we are using, do we understand it and do we have something to show that we did let our members know.”
Christina Miller, Attorney, SW&M, LLP
We had our tax exemption removed in 1994. At that time, we had around 400 different credit unions. Today, we have 55, and that is no coincidence.
Alysia Smith, government relations manager, Customer Owned Banking Association, Australia
If I can give you one piece of advice—if open banking does continue along (in the United States), please push your legislators at the same time to be implementing a consumer awareness style campaign. Because open banking is not realizing the competitive benefits that were promised, because our consumers are not aware of it.
Alysia Smith, government relations manager, Customer Owned Banking Association, Australia
(The) NCUA board is going through some reconsiderations of how we are going to change the agency and what we are going to do. That’s what a new administration is and does. I’m confident we will get through this as a different NCUA but a strong NCUA.
Todd Harper, Board Member, NCUA
NCUA understands the unique characteristics of credit unions and their members. Our independence from politics and distinction from other financial regulators allows us to focus on what matters to the credit union system it also allows us to maintain long-term stability, identify risks quickly during a crisis, and prudently manage the share insurance fund.
Tonya Otsuka, Board Member, NCUA
(CUs) have better rates for members, and their presence causes banks to price in more consumer-friendly ways. That’s $37 billion in advantage just in the year ending September 30, 2024. By the way, the government estimates the cost of those benefits are about $3 billion, which means about a 1,300% return on the investment, which is amazing.”
Mike Schenk, chief economist, America’s Credit Unions
The question of whether to consolidate or not to consolidate is one I’ve been hearing, and I think the answer is it depends. But what I think is also very relevant is the anxiety and the concern that folks have. You can be paralyzed by that.
Will Coffey, chief risk and data officer, AKUVO
I’m glad we’re all here in Washington because we have serious issues to discuss…We’re under attack. There are real threats to our business model. I think taxation might not hurt our credit union…but for some that would be the last straw. (Some will say we don’t) have the powers of banks, but we’re taxed like banks and so maybe we should just be a bank. I’ll never participate in that, but you could see it happening.
We can’t let that happen. There are people who are coming after us and we have to be here now to protect ourselves and, more importantly, to protect our members.
Bill Cheney, CEO, SchoolsFirst FCU
In my opinion there’s nothing bigger right now than the impact of artificial intelligence. If you don’t have a project or you’re not working with a vendor that has artificial intelligence, you’re not stepping out into that, you’re behind, and I don’t want us to be behind.
If I were you I would say, ‘Hey, you know that sounds like a good idea but what does that mean? Over 70% of folks that are working with artificial intelligence right now at different companies, banks, credit unions, the idea is operational efficiency. Start there.
Will Coffey, chief risk and data officer, Akuvo
When I go to your homepages, what’s on them? It’s your rates. Is the number-one value proposition of your union credit is the rate you are offering? What that does is make the member rate shop. Are we in an environment where we can win rate-chasers? Is that our value proposition in people helping people? And how often is that consumer going to engage in that kind of service? We have to think about our services in value bundles, an those are organized according to how a human behaves.
–Samantha Paxson, Principal, Power & Light Collective
My congressman is on the Ways and Means committee and has been for 18 years now. They’re not in control right now, but he says this is real. A lot of you may not agree with that and certainly the people that aren’t here evidently don’t agree with that or they would be here fighting for credit unions. He said that (loss of the exemption) won’t be on purpose, it will be on accident because if things happen, it’s going to happen quick. You can just get wiped into the frenzy.
-Brett Martinez, Redwood Credit Union
If we are to serve our communities we need places to go where people feel like they’re not a number but they’re actually a person.
Sen. Tim Scott