A Washington Examiner op-ed authored by two credit union leaders illustrates how credit unions, regardless of size, meet people where they are to provide exemplary service and access to financial services.
“There are misconceptions about the credit union industry running rampant in Washington, DC. Many want Congress to impose a tax on credit unions, claiming they have become ‘too big’ or lost sight of who they are,” wrote Leigh Brady, president and CEO of State Employees’ Credit Union, the second largest credit union in the country, and Deborah Fears, president and CEO of Chicago Post Office Employees Credit Union, a smaller credit union in Illinois. “But size isn’t the measure of a credit union, large or small. The exemplary service of these not-for-profit financial cooperatives is what sets them apart, and that hasn’t changed.”
Brady and Fears noted bankers’ efforts to eliminate credit unions’ not-for-profit structure are attempts to eliminate competition. “Consumers will be left with fewer choices as a result: banks are responsible for 92 percent of all new banking deserts since 2019, while credit unions are responsible for 36 percent of cure deserts,” they noted. “Since 2014, rural areas have seen credit unions open 282 branches while banks closed more than 4,200.”
“Since 2014, rural areas have seen credit unions open 282 branches, while banks closed more than 4,200.” – Leigh Brady and Deborah Fears
Not to mention, a new tax on credit unions would harm bank customers, too. “Based on a recent independent study commissioned by America’s Credit Unions, a 50 percent reduction in the credit union market share would cost bank customers an estimated $22.8 billion a year in higher loan rates and lower deposit rates,” they shared.
“No matter a credit union’s size, the heart of its mission is the same: people helping people,” wrote Brady and Fears.