It was another very successful CSCU Solutions Conference in 2016.  The recently completed conference had record attendance and included very informative and entertaining keynotes, general session and breakout presentations by industry experts.  If you were unable to attend the conference this year, or even if you were able to attend, we wanted to share with you some of the key articles that have appeared in credit union industry publications. 

CU Today          

Mobile Payments Not Addressing ‘Pain Point’ - CSCU President Bob Hackney

What Could Be ‘Unbundling’ CU Services? - CSCU Sr. VP Finance & Technology Tom Davis

What Rising Rates Mean for Card Management - CSCU PCS Director, Barney Moore

Why Card Fees Are Not A ‘Four-Letter Word’ - CSCU Sr. Portfolio Consultant, Dean Knudtson

Compared to banks, credit unions have not been a big player in the small business loan segment with $56 billion in Member Business Loans (MBL) compared to $585 billion as tracked by SBA.gov. But that is about to change, now that the NCUA voted to strip a number of restrictions on MBL.

Credit union commercial loan growth has been steady during the 15 years examined here. More importantly, it has been resilient during the last two recessions according to Filene Research, suggesting that credit unions can buoy both lending growth and, as a consequence, overall business activity. To hammer this point home, at the 2016 CUNA GAC, Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) stated, “Credit unions did not underwrite the bad loans that sank the housing market. On the contrary, you upheld sound underwriting standards to protect consumers, even as it cost you customers and market share went to financial predators that circled those troubled waters”.