Focusing on the future of credit unions
I was recently asked what the year 2030 would look like with a successful, thriving credit union movement.
The answer that immediately comes to mind is vision we fight to achieve every day at America’s Credit Unions: a future where people everywhere partner with credit unions to achieve their best lives.
But the timeframe in the question is interesting. It’s not the short-term, but it’s not the distant future either. It’s a fascinating strategic exercise to look beyond today’s policy fights, and really think through how to position credit unions for success over the next few years.
But the two are more linked than many realize. The work to ensure future success and a thriving industry is happening today. Getting our policies through a future Congress and signed by a future president starts with relentless advocacy. Right now. That’s why America’s Credit Unions is hard at work to elect industry champions in November to position our movement for success in advancing our agenda with next year’s Congress.
Five years isn’t a long time in Washington, D.C., though at times it can feel like a lifetime.
We’ve had credit union priorities introduced, through committee, and even passed by the House or Senate, but it doesn’t mean a better environment for credit unions until signed into law. Even once it’s signed into law, it’s usually a few more years to fully implement the change.
Advocacy is a long game that requires daily buy in, from all of us.
America’s Credit Unions—in partnership with Leagues—are here to support our members, get them the information and data they need, and bring credit unions’ unified voice to policymakers.
Events like the Congressional Caucus earlier this month, or next year’s Governmental Affairs Conference, show the power of the credit union movement on Capitol Hill, with both events timed to maximize impact as Congress sets its agenda.
It was agreed from the start of our transformation to America’s Credit Unions that this was about the future of the credit union movement, about ensuring its relevance far into in the future.
Credit unions make meaningful impacts on people’s lives, because as an industry, we have always known we work better together. Our cooperative spirit is our North Star – a guiding principle that has served our industry well.
We know that means bringing a unified voice to policymakers as part of unparalleled support for our members but it’s much more.
Our members need this unified voice as we fight to secure the credit union tax status, reject interchange caps benefitting large retailers, modernize fields of membership, and address current and attempted limits on member business lending and bank sales to credit unions.
We are committed to creating and deploying new resources for these fights. We have a new Legal Advocacy Fund to protect and advance credit union efforts in the courts, a revamped advocacy committee is underway, and a focus on collecting the latest, most complete data to augment the many examples showing how credit unions make a real difference in people’s lives, every day.
How we advocate might change over the years, but it remains based on one simple truth: the credit union tax status remains one of the best investments governments make in its people. It should not only be preserved, it should be celebrated.
Credit union advocacy is centered around this message, to both protect the credit union tax status for future generations and continue to evolve what the industry is capable of.
It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of a movement that does so much good for so many. My team and I take our responsibility to this movement seriously, and look forward to positioning it for a continued force of good for not just the next five years, but for many generations of future members.
