World Council to Host Free "EMPOWER" Webinar on ICU Day Posted by AVCU on 1:28 PM

 

The theme for International Credit Union Day 2022 is "Empower Your Financial Future with a Credit Union." To celebrate ICU Day on Thursday, October 20th, World Council of Credit Unions is hosting a virtual event featuring panelists from credit unions around the world who will discuss different ways they have empowered the financial futures of their members and employees (click the link to register for the webinar).

Participants will hear stories of empowerment from Ireland, Ukraine, and Peru—along with a description of how Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions is joining forces with True Sky Credit Union from the United States to raise US $500,000 as part of its “EMPOWER” campaign to further credit union member empowerment moving forward.

This webinar will feature the following panelists:

• Mike Reuter, Executive Director, Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions
• Sean Cahill, CEO, TrueSky Credit Union (United States)
• Billy Doyle, CEO, Dundalk Credit Union (Ireland)
• Viacheslav Vitiuk, CEO, Credit Union PVKS (Ukraine)
• Hector Farro, Deputy Manager, FINANSOL (Peru)
• Pedro Pablo Martinez, Commercial Advisor, FINANSOL (Peru)
  

The webinar will include translation in the Spanish and Ukrainian languages. If you have questions about the webinar, contact Greg Neumann, World Council Director of Communications, at gneumann@woccu.org or +1 608-395-2048.

The CUInsight Experience Podcast: George Ombado – Rising up Posted by AVCU on 9:42 AM

This new episode of the CUInsight Experience Podcast with host Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com, features George Ombado, CEO of ACCOSCA, a Pan-African confederation of national associations of savings and credit cooperatives societies. The podcast was recorded at the 20th Annual SACCA Congress in Mombasa, Kenya.

ACCOSCA has developed programs aimed at improving socio-economic needs of Africa through saving and credit unions, partnering with various government bodies, development agencies and research institutions to contribute towards mitigating challenges facing Africa in the twenty-first century.

Listen to this conversation about credit union growth in Africa, and the differences to the more mature U.S. credit union system. George talks about how he’s fashioned the Africa Development Education program after attending DE in North Carolina and shares a great story about Bill and Crissy Cheney helping him get home after his flight was canceled due to snow.

George is inspired to see that young people and women are being accepted by the leadership today because these things wouldn’t have been possible ten years ago. He is working to build the regulatory framework in Africa because it builds confidence to have it, whereas, in the U.S, we are trying to get rid of some of it.
 
George has excellent insight into today's global credit union movement.

<< CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast>>

ABA Chair: Time to Fix CU Tax Exemption Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 12:37 PM

Laurie Stewart, Chair, American Bankers Association

The new chair of the American Bankers Association, Laurie Stewart, thinks it's time for the banking lobby to address the tax-exempt status of credit unions. That's an age-old song by bankers, but what's different this time is that Stewart's $686 million bank used to be a credit union.  Stewart lead the conversion of Sound Financial in Seattle from a credit union to a bank in 2003.

In a recent American Banker article, Stewart cites the recent trend of credit unions buying banks as a frustration and how the ABA plans to address the issue in the year ahead.

Stewart says she's "fired up about this situation with credit unions buying taxpaying community banks and taking them off the tax rolls of communities around the country."  She goes to take exception to a credit union buying a bank's book of business with the assumption there's a common bond that results.  She objects to credit unions offering the same services as banks but not accountable to the Community Reinvestment Act, having less of a compliance burden, and reduing tax revenues for government.

She also claims that some credit union CEOs believe in future credit union taxation and that they'd be better served if they could get their industry to structure a tax and be more in control rather than have to be on the defensive all the time.

Stewart also feels the most pressure from credit unions on commercial real estate, saying that credidt unions make loans in the bank market at incredibly low rates with very generous terms that she believes are not prudent and are not scrutinized at the same level as banks conduct.

See the full interview online.

Foundation Issues $75K in Grants for Member & Employee Financial Health; Releases First Ever DE Impact Report Posted by AVCU on 3:18 PM

The National Credit Union Foundation (the Foundation) Board of Directors recently approved 8 grants totaling $75,000 to help credit union organizations document and measure the impacts of their products and services on member and employee financial health.

In 2017, the Foundation funded six credit unions to measure the financial health of their members, using the Center for Financial Services Innovation financial health segmentation methodology. The aggregate data showed that more than half (58%) of members in the total credit union sample are struggling financially, highlighting a significant opportunity for credit unions to help their members better spend, save, borrow, and plan.

The purpose of these grants is to help credit unions build upon this work by supporting their initiatives to measure and document these efforts specifically in the Save, Spend, Borrow, and Plan categories.

Foundation Releases First Ever DE Impact Report

The Foundation also announced that it has released the first ever Impact Report for its Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE) program (click to download the PDF) which has been inspiring change through credit unions since 1982.

CUDE is the Foundation's signature program. It is a transformative and experiential training that promotes the education and application of credit union business principles and philosophy.

The mission of the DE Program is to help established and emerging leaders within the credit union movement understand and leverage credit unions’ unique business model to serve members and communities in new and better ways.

Second New CU Charter of 2019 Posted by AVCU on 10:06 AM

The second new federal credit union charter so far this year happened earlier this month when NCUA  granted a charter and Share Insurance Fund coverage to Maine Harvest Federal Credit Union.  The credit union will serve approximately 13,000 members and employees of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and the Maine Farmland Trust.  It is headquartered in Unity, Maine, and is expected to be fully operational this fall.

In May of this year, NCUA also chartered Otoe-Missouria Credit Union in Red Rock, Oklahoma.  It  serves roughly 4,200 members and employees of the Otoe-Missouria tribe in addition to 17 businesses that are owned by the tribe. The credit union is designated as a low-income credit union.

2.9 Million Canadian CU Account Holders Breached Posted by AVCU on 11:39 AM

In what is being billed as a breach of the largest financial co-operative in all of North America, a rogue employee of Desjardins Group, based in Montreal, illegally exposed the personal information of some 2.9 million credit union members.  The affected information includes names, birth dates, social insurance numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses and details on banking habits. Passwords, security questions and personal identification numbers reportedly weren’t compromised.  The incident was not billed as a “cyberattack.” 

The data breach also affected 173,000 businesses, for whom Desjardins provides merchant processig and other services.

The francophone credit union system in Quebec is different than in other provinces, and different than that of the United States.  Desjardins Group (Mouvement des caisses Desjardins in french) is a cooperative that is the largest federation of credit unions in North America, and is regarded as among the world's strongest banks according to the Banker magazine.  It was founded in 1900 in Levis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins, an often cited influence in U.S. credit union history.

Although there are approximately 293 credit unions (caisses populaires in french) with 1,032 locations mostly throughout Quebec serving over 7 million members, they share common data processing, branding, marketing and other centralized resources provided by Desjardins.

In addition to retail banking, Desjardins has over 20 subsidiaries providing products and services related to insurance, real estate, venture capital and brokerage. Desjardins Group provides technical assistance and various investments in over 50 developing countries.

Watch the embedded CBC video below for more details.

Ara Penny: Vermont's Newest Development Educator Posted by AVCU on 4:22 PM

A Vermont credit union employee was among the 47 most recent credit union leaders being designated as Credit Union Development Educators (CUDEs) after completing the National Credit Union Foundation’s (the Foundation) Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training.

Ara Penny, of Heritage Family CU in Rutland, attended the May DE Training on May 15-20 in Madison, Wisconsin.  The 46 other participants comprised employees and volunteers from credit unions and system partners across the United States and the globe.

DE Training is a unique experiential training program that provides lessons in credit union structure, purpose and the “why” that differentiates credit unions from other financial institutions. During the Foundation’s signature program, participants are involved in group exercises, field visits and interactive speaker sessions that provide insights into how credit unions can leverage their unique business model to help their members and communities overcome the financial and developmental issues they face.

Ara is a trainer in her credit union's HR Department, was named Heritage Family’s Employee of the Year in 2017.  She has worked at HFCU for 5 years and hails from Connecticut. To hear from Ara directly check out her short YouTube video below, created for the 2016 GAC Crash Program.

Video: Intl. Development by the World Council of CUs Posted by AVCU on 2:01 PM

TheWorldwide Foundation for Credit Unions has released a new video highlighting the international development projects, learning initiatives and disaster relief efforts World Council for Credit Unions (WOCCU) administers through the global credit union movement.

The video supports the Worldwide Foundation’s efforts to grow its base of Champions who support the vision of expanding financial inclusion to more than 1.7 billion people who remain outside the global financial system.

“We wanted people to be able to sit down for just a few minutes and learn about all of the great work we’re doing and find out how they can be a part of it,” said Mike Reuter, Executive Director for Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions. “This video shows exactly how we put our motto—Do Global Good—into practice every day throughout the world.”

View the video below, or on the Worldwide Foundation’s website, where visitors can donate to various projects or subscribe to Field Notes: A Blog of the Worldwide Foundation. The website also  features a Global Good Toolkit—a range of business development tools credit unions and individuals can leverage to both achieve their strategic objectives and be part of growing the global credit union movement. Visitors also can find a link to World Councils’ new Digital Transformation Lab.

Watch the video below:

Open: 2020 Wegner Award Nominations Posted by AVCU on 3:32 PM

Now's your chance to nominate individuals and organizations for the annual Herb Wegner Memorial Awards, to be presented by the National Credit Union Foundation at its annual awards and fundraising gala on 2/24/20, held in conjunction with CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C.

Nominations are due by Friday, July 26, for the following awards:

• The Outstanding Individual Achievement Award honors an individual who is dedicated to promoting the credit union philosophy, has created innovative concepts, and provided leadership that has had a significant and lasting impact on the local, regional, national, or international credit union movement with measured results.
    
• The Outstanding Organization/Program Award honors an organization, program or business for their innovative concepts, products, and services that have had a significant impact on the local, national, or international credit union movement with measured results.

In 2005, Vermont's Opportunities Credit Union received the award for Outstanding Organization.  Watch the video about Opportunities below, used at the event that year. 

Wegner Award Nominations can come from individuals or organizations. Here are the three steps to make a nomination:

• Complete the Wegner Awards nomination form on the Foundation website (ncuf.coop).
• Gather at least five personal recommendations citing examples of the nominee’s achievements relevant to the award criteria.
• Send the nomination form and recommendation letters electronically to the Foundation by July 26, 2019.

The awards are named in honor of the late Credit Union National Association CEO Herb Wegner, whose tireless dedication, innovative ideas and deeds truly revolutionized the ways that credit unions serve their communities.  The awards that bear Wegner’s name recognize his spirit of “innovative, creative, risk-taking” leadership. View past award recipients here. Questions about the Wegner Awards can be directed to Jennifer Speth at jspeth@ncuf.coop or 608-231-4979.

New CU Answer for Farm Families in Malawi Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 11:59 AM

Credit unions often make a difference to their members here in the U.S., but in some parts of the world a credit union is even more integral to peoples' lives.

One of the newest credit unions in the world is serving sesame, legume and rice farmers in Malawi.  In development for 18 months and established in September, 2018. Its was created with support from  the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s USAID UBALE Project, which NCBA CLUSA is implementing in Malawi with Catholic Relief Services.

Blantyre, Nsanje and Chikwawa Savings and Credit Cooperative (BNC Sacco) already has over 2,000 initial members and is on track to have 4,000 by the end of the year.  A Sacco in Malawi is typically known as a credit union in the U.S.  Sixty percent of BNC Sacco's members are women.

The idea to create a credit union among the farmers came about as part of a USAID project to reduce chronic malnutrition and food insecurity in the area, part of which was to improve access to finance so farm families can weather unpredictable markets and non-harvest seasons.   Malawi farmers have difficulty accessing credit during lean seasons of the year. About 46% of adult Malawians don't have access to any type of financial services. BNC Sacco is working with mobile money wallet providers Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) Mpamba and Airtel Money, to facilitate access to the sacco by its rural Malawi members.

BNC SACCO brings Malawi’s total SACCO’s to 35, serving a membership of more than 200,000 people across Malawi,

Read more detail in this article by NCBA-CLUSA. 

Fast Facts:  The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa, roughly the size of Florida. English is the official language among the 18 million people, 53% of whom live below the poverty line. Malawi is one of the world's least-developed countries. The economy is heavily agricultural and the population is largely rural. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid.

Highlight: Opportunities' Fatnassi on Board of Inclusiv Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 2:16 PM

A number of Vermont credit union leaders serve in one or more national capacities. One such leader is Cheryl Fatnassi, chief executive officer of Opportunities Credit Union. Cheryl is a member of the board of directors of the newly re-branded Inclusiv, formerly the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU). 

Cheryl Fatnassi, CEO
Opportunities Credit Union

Now CEO and President of Opportunities Credit Union since 2008, Cheryl was formerly chief operating officer of the credit union. She assumed the credit union's leadership role upon the retirement of Opportunities’ founder, Caryl Stewart. The credit union, headquartered in Winooski, Vermont, is approximately $40 million in assets and serves 6,500 members. 

Cheryl has working in financial services for over 38 years. In her role on the 17-member board of Inclusiv, she serves on the Executive Committee as Corresponding Secretary.  Cheryl is also a member of the organization's Technology Committee and chair of its Mortgage Advisory Committee.

Inclusiv is a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) intermediary that provides capital, makes connections, builds capacity, develops innovative products and services and advocates for its member community development credit unions (CDCUs). CDCUs belongilng to Inclusiv serve over 8 million residents of low-income urban, rural and reservation-based communities across the United States and hold over $80 billion in community-controlled assets. Founded as NFCDCU in 1974, Inclusiv is headquartered in New York city, with offices in Madison, WI and Atlanta, GA. 

Free: Awareness Campaign Webinars Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 11:57 AM

A series of free webinars CUNA is hosting about the Awareness initiative.  They will be held on October 22, November 14, and December 10, all at 3:00 eastern time for an hour.

The topic for the first webinar is understanding the voice of consumers.  It will be hosted by Douglas Kiker of CUNA and the guest is Graeme Trayner of Glover Park Group, who has handled all the research and focus groups on Awareness.

Register for the first free webinar online.

Visit https://awareness.creditunion/ (password: openyoureyes) to learn more about the national credit union awareness program.

CU AID Activated to Assist CUs Affected by Hurricane Michael Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 2:11 PM

The National Credit Union Foundation (the Foundation) has opened CUAid to receive disaster relief funds to assist credit union people affected by Hurricane Michael; a Category 4 hurricane that has caused catastrophic effects across Florida and Georgia and is expected to reach the already hurricane-soaked Carolinas.

Donations to CUAid are being used for any credit union employees and volunteers affected by this hurricane. Credit union supporters in every state can make donations through cuaid.coop.

“With Hurricane Michael arriving as the Florida’s strongest storm in over twenty-five years, we are opening CUAid to begin raising funds to assist credit union people in their recovery,” said Gigi Hyland, Executive Director. “We hope the credit union movement will once again show their support and cooperative spirit in assisting those who have been affected by this natural disaster.”

100% of the donations through CUAid goes to credit union disaster relief. The Foundation does not use disaster relief funds to pay for the CUAid.coop web platform or any of the Foundation costs to administer the national disaster relief program for credit unions.

Click here to make a donation

CUNA Mutual Contributes $1 Million to Nat'l Consumer Awareness Effort Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 12:51 PM

As CUNA embarks on a groundbreaking, research-based effort to grow consumer awareness of CUs as the best financial partner, CUNA Mutual Group has dedicated $1 million to help start the effort.  Its contribution will support the management, ongoing consumer research, and creative content development for CUNA’s program to effectively and sustainably create an environment for credit unions to thrive and grow in an increasingly competitive financial services marketplace.

A growing number of the nation's largest credit unions are also making financial commitments to the nationwide social media awareness campaign that is planned to launch in January, 2019.

The three-year, $100 million national campaign is entitled “Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union” will be executed through a series of regional and statewide social media campaigns.

For more information check out the campaign website.

Filene Pilots Loaned Executive Program Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 10:51 AM

The Filene Research Institute has launched the “Filene Loaned Executive” program, which matches the think tank’s business needs with executives on loan from a credit union or industry provider for a focused service period of up to 24 months. Under this program, a credit union sponsor or local organization would loan talent to a credit union tha
t has specific talent needs for a project or business objective. The loaning organization gets to further develop top talent and the loaned individual builds and deepens their skills.

This program is an experiment in offering a new way for the credit union industry to tap into the power of cooperation and work collaboratively to improve people’s financial lives. For more information on the Filene Loaned Executive program, send email to Tansley Stearns, chief impact officer at Filene.

April DE School Registration Open Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 12:44 PM

Registration is open for the National Credit Union Foundation’s Credit Union Development Education training, taking place on April 18 – 25 in Madison, Wisconsin.

The training provides critical lessons in cooperative principles, credit union philosophy and international development issues while incorporating challenges credit unions face today. Individuals who complete the training will earn their CUDE certification.

Only a limited number of spots are available for the training. To register for the session, visit the National Foundation’s registration page.  For more information, watch the video below.

CDFI Certification and Grant Webinar Series Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 10:54 AM

The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions will host a three-part CDFI Certification and Grant Webinar Series, which will cover successful community development business planning and changes to the CDFI Fund.  The three-part series includes:

• Part 1: Doing Well by Doing Good: The CDFI Business Model & Successful Business Planning – Explore how knowledge of CDFI Target Markets and sound business planning can increase impact, ensure CDFI compliance, build competitiveness for CDFI grants, and boost a credit union’s bottom line (Dec. 14, 2017, at 2 p.m.);
• Part 2: The CDFI Fund’s FY 2018 Grant Writing Round – Learn about the CDFI Fund grant application process, expert analysis of the FY 2017 results, what to expect for FY 2018 and how to apply best practices in preparing your application (Jan. 25, 2018, at 2 p.m.).
• Part 3: The CDFI Fund’s FY 2018 Grant Writing Round Post-NOFA Release Analysis – Review the latest changes to the application process and get expert advice to help your credit union develop the most competitive application possible (date and time pending the release of Notice of Funds Availability).

To register for the series, visit the Federation’s webinar registration page.

NY CU Sues Trump Over CFPB Appointee Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 10:48 AM

According to a recent article in the Credit Union Times, Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York following the resignation of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray, contending that President Trump illegally appointed Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to serve as interim director of the agency.

The suit states that the Mulvaney appointment is a “hostile takeover” that has thrown the credit union into “regulatory chaos.”

According to CU Times, the credit union is calling on the federal court to remove Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director, and affirm Leandra English, the CFPB’s deputy director, as the proper acting head of the bureau.

“We support the CFPB as a protector of our low income members’ financial rights, and fear that the appointment of an Acting Director beholden to the White House could result in upheaval and ultimate dissolution of this critical agency.  Having experienced the devastation that the 2008 mortgage crisis wreaked on our low income members, we need the CFPB to protect communities targeted by financial predators.”  Linda Levy, CEO

This suit is the second suit filed in connection with that appointment. English has filed one of her own contending that she is the proper interim director.

The $55m credit union serves approximately 8,500 members.

Co-op Economic Council Experts to Gather Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 12:30 PM

Earlier this week the first ever planned council for economists from different cooperative organizations was announced by the National Cooperative Business Association.

The benefits of cooperative approaches to business and the economy are compelling, but difficult to explain due to scant data that features the impact of cooperatives. Such a gap in quantifying the cooperative advantage is what the newly launched Council of Cooperative Economists is poised to bridge.

The new Council is tasked with collecting and generating  data and analysis that measures the economic impact of cooperatives and demonstrates why co-ops are the preferred business model. Research by the Council will be used to influence policymakers, thought leaders and other stakeholders, and the general public.

The Council of Cooperative Economists is comprised of best-in-class cooperative economists exploring ideas and publishing cutting-edge research, as evidenced by its 14 members:

VT Credit Unions: Capital for Small Biz Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 11:15 AM

Small business entrepreneurs in Vermont would do well to fill their capital needs from the state's credit unions, versus banks, based on data released from the Vermont District Office of the Small Business Administration.

From October 1 through March 31, Vermont financial institutions made 98 SBA guaranteed loans for a total of almost $17 million. The five participating Vermont credit unions accounted for 19 of those SBA loans to small business. But the real story is that the average loan size among all five credit unions was just over $61,000, while the average size of loans made by the state's banks was well over $315,000. And the average loan of each of the five Vermont credit unions was less than all but one of the 16 banks.

Those statistics speak to how not-for-profit cooperative credit unions work to support the needs of small business owners, on average, more than most for-profit banks.