Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is engaged in a variety of hearings in both chambers of Congress this week, including those on data privacy and diversity in financial services. Below please find details on the contents of each letter sent to the Hill prior to Tuesday’s committee hearings.
- House Energy & Commerce Committee -- “Protecting Consumer Privacy in the Era of Big Data.”
Safeguarding consumers’ money and personal information is the bedrock of the financial services industry. Credit unions have a long history of protecting information and are subject to numerous requirements, unlike others that use or maintain consumer information.
CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote to members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to detail the damage to credit unions and their members from data breaches. CUNA is calling on Congress to work with the Administration and financial services industry to address consumer data privacy in a meaningful way and further improve upon the Gram-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).
- HFSC Subcommittee on Diversity & Inclusion --“An Overview of Diversity Trends in the Financial Services Industry.”
CUNA and its members are committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion continue to play a meaningful role throughout every aspect of the credit union financial services sector. Presently, credit unions lead the way in gender diversity with 52% of all credit union CEOs being women. In addition, more than ten percent of all credit unions are minority depository institutions. That’s 3.5 times the number of minority depository institution banks in the United States. CUNA and their credit union members are committed to increasing Diversity and Inclusion at leadership, board and staff levels to continue to reach and better serve an increasingly diverse population.
- House Appropriations FSGG Subcommittee -- “Leveraging Private Capital for Underserved Communities and Individuals: A Look into Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)”.
CUNA sent this letter for the record ahead of the hearing on community development financial institutions (CDFIs). CDFIs such as some Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs) are charged with supplying low-income, distressed communities with traditional banking services such as savings accounts and personal loans, and offering individuals the tools needed to become self-sufficient stakeholders in their own future. The CDFI Fund uses small amounts of federal dollars to leverage significant amounts of private and non-federal dollars, and has added a tremendous boost to the CDFI industry (which relies heavily upon private sector funds from corporations, individuals, religious institutions, and private foundations). CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle provides examples of how credit unions in Missouri and Tennessee are using funds from the CDFI to grow local economies and serve the most economically distressed communities in the nation. CUNA maintains that fully funding the CDFI Fund is a strong investment by the federal government.
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