Links in “Credit Unions”

Gigi Hyland, Executive Director of the National Credit Union Foundation and former NCUA Board Member, warned a group of attendees at the CUNA GAC that over regulation on the part of the CFPB on overdraft accounts could result in credit unions eliminating overdraft services and driving consumers to payday lenders to meet short falls. On the other hand, Ms. Hyland also warned that many financial institutions, including credit unions, have relied too heavily on overdraft fee income rather than focusing on what’s best for individual consumers. [2/25/16]c

If you're planning on making a visit to your Congressional representative, you may want to be aware of what the ABA is asking your elected representative to ask you. (Hint: It's not "How's it going?") [2/25/16]

The NCUA's decision to ease lending restrictions for credit unions in making commercial loans infuse unnecessary new risk into the financial system, is outside the scope of the credit union mission, and enables them to unfairly capitalize on their non-profit tax exemptions as they steal business from community banks, according to many irate bankers. [2/25/16]

Staying up-to-date with new trends, channels, disruptors, behaviors and everything related to change can prove to be a daunting task, but asking the right questions can lead to surprising results. Executing a plan and then creating innovative practices all starts with relevant information gathering; after all, knowing is half the battle. [2/24/16]

CFPB Director Richard Cordray complimented credit unions on their ability to service their members by providing "enormous value" to a members banking experience and always striving to be "consistent stewards of consumer interests." Following this, Cordray touches on future rulemaking proposals and explains why the CFPB has made proposals that do not expressly exempt credit unions. [2/24/16]

The passion to help others. Regardless of whether we are born with it or instilled with it, we will all come across people who portray this quality. Two leading ladies, Dolores Rivera Ramirez and Anne Cochran, are both shining examples of this characteristic. [2/24/16]

With the financial markets in disarray, the Federal Reserve predicting that rates won't raise till at least 2018, and the CFPB setting their cross-hairs on overdrafts, what opportunity will present itself within all this chaos? As Niccolo Machiavelli said, "never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis." [2/23/16]

Switching gears from the old "Volunteer" model to a new "Qualified Trustee" model for electing candidates for positions within the board of directors may allow credit unions greater flexibility when it comes to making sound and precise decisions. This should not be the training directors get after being elected to the board, trustees should be selected for their high ability to hit the ground running. [2/23/16]

In an op-ed featured in CUToday, CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan presented his opinions regarding certain CFPB rules involving mortgage lending. These adjustments would provide credit unions with the needed relief to service their members in a better capacity and prevent negative choices that currently impose themselves on financial institutions. [2/23/16]

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) practices have a place in all financial institutions, helping organizations prepare and defend against incoming threats aimed at its most important assets: its data, its people, and its brand reputation. [2/22/16]