The Credit Union National Association’s (CUNA) Small Credit Union Committee has released findings from a report detailing the current status of small credit unions.
The CUNA Small Credit Union Committee white paper detailed opportunities and challenges facing small credit unions, outlining how industry support across the board could result in enhanced and small credit union preservation.
“Small credit unions are serving members and communities in extraordinary ways and play a vital role in helping sustain the credit union movement,” Greg Michlig, CUNA chief engagement officer, said. “As this paper demonstrates, for every challenge facing small credit unions, there is a solution that we can provide through system-wide collaboration.”
The analysis examined the value small credit unions provide to the industry while probing six challenges that affect small credit union relevance and solutions to aid them.
“We all run credit unions all over this country that mean a whole heck of a lot to our members,” Dale Hansard, president and CEO, Caprock FCU, and chair of the Small Credit Union Committee, said. “I’d contend we are more relevant now to the needs of our members than we’ve ever been before. The problem is that the operating environment keeps moving the goalposts for us on how we’re allowed to serve our members and that continuous pinch and the shifting requirements means smaller shops just need an extra boost to keep doing this much-needed work.”
Hansard said small credit unions must be adaptable as the whole industry has a stake in what happens to the smallest institutions.