Skip to main content

Senator Udall's proposal aimed at helping small businesses

Senator Udall's proposal aimed at helping small businesses: Udall's proposal to increase lending by credit unions by lifting the cap on credit union lending to small businesses to a maximum of 27.5 percent of total assets (from 12.25 percent), could fill the gap, the report finds. Credit union experts have ...
See all stories on this topic »

Comments

Post a Comment

Please no profanity or political comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday Reading - Lake Manly Returns

  Lake Manly Returns   An ancient lake has  reemerged in California's Death Valley National Park following record rainfall this year.  Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, meltwater from ice covering the Sierra Nevada fed rivers that emptied into Badwater Basin, North America’s lowest point at 282 feet below sea level. The steady flow sustained Lake Manly, nearly 100 miles long and roughly 600 feet deep. The lake disappeared as Death Valley evolved into the driest place in North America , with some areas receiving under two inches of rain annually. This year, however, the park received 2.41 inches between September and November, marking its wettest autumn on record and triggering the temporary return of a shorter, shallower Lake Manly.  Above-average rainfall periodically brings Lake Manly back, including in 2023 when Hurricane Hilary dumped 2.2 inches of rain on a single August day, allowing visi...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Fed to Keep Rates Higher Even Longer; CU Economists Still See Chance for Cuts Soon

CU trade economists think another good inflation report or two might convince the Fed to lower rates twice this year. By Jim DuPlessis | June 12, 2024 at 04:11 PM Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon. The Fed kicked the can down the road Wednesday, keeping rates at their current high level and signaling that it will take more time in reducing them. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) ended its two-day meeting Wednesday with a decision to maintain the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.50%. Its projection report showed half of FOMC members expect the rate to fall to 5.1% by year's end, indicating one 25-basis-point rate cut this year. In March, the median expectation was for two rate cuts. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said half of members expect rates will fall to 3.1% by end of 2026. The FOMC's four remaining meetings this year are July 30-31, Sept. 17-18, N...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

NCUA"s new video module provides best practices for merging

The three-part video module provided by NCUA, available online   here , examines current trends in mergers, when a credit union board should consider a merger and how to negotiate a merger agreement that best serves the credit union’s interests. Every credit union should discuss the possibilities of a future merger in their strategic planning.
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Is it a ‘skip’ or a ‘pause’? Federal Reserve won’t likely raise rates next week but maybe next month

WASHINGTON — Don’t call it a “pause.” When the Federal Reserve meets next week, it is widely expected to leave interest rates alone — after 10 straight meetings in which it has jacked up its key rate to fight inflation. But what might otherwise be seen as a “pause” will likely be characterized instead as a “skip.” The difference? A “pause” might suggest that the Fed may not raise its benchmark rate again. A “skip” implies that it probably will — just not now. The purpose of suspending its rate hikes is to give the Fed’s policymakers time to look around and assess how much higher borrowing rates are slowing inflation. Calling next week’s decision a “skip” is also a way for Chair Jerome Powell to forge a consensus among an increasingly fractious committee of Fed policymakers. One group of Fed officials would like to pause their hikes and decide, over time, whether to increase rates any further. But a second group worries that inflation is still too high and would prefer tha...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Involved in a data breach? Here’s what you need to know

  Involved in a data breach? Here’s what you need to know Posted: September 21, 2023 by Anna Brading If you've received a message from a company saying your data has been caught up in a breach, you might be unsure what to do next. We've put together some tips which should help you when the (more or less) inevitable happens. 1. Check the company’s advice Every breach is different, so check the company's official channels to find out what's happened and what data has been breached. Organizations often put out a rolling statement on their website, blog, or X (Twitter). Follow any specific advice they offer first, and keep an eye out for any further communications. 2. Change your password If your password has been caught up in a breach, you should immediately change it. If you've used the same password on another site or service then you also need to change that. Cybercriminals will often try one password on multiple sites because they know people reuse them, so make s...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

7 Things to Do (And Avoid) with SMS/Text in Credit Union Marketing

By not using SMS text messaging for marketing, you are missing a channel with a 98% open rate and a rapid response rate. Consumers love the convenience and are open to receiving personalized and relevant texts from their bank and credit union. Naturally there are some caveats to be aware of. Here are seven pointers. Are you content to have your customers take 90 minutes to respond back to a communication you’ve sent, or would 90 seconds be better? That’s the difference in average response times between email and SMS text. Then there is the open rate: SMS texts have high open rates — up to 98%, according to Gartner and 82% by another source. The average open rate of email is around 20%. If you send an email with a link to a survey to find out what a consumer thinks about the virtual meeting with a lending officer they just had, it may linger in the consumers’ inbox for days, at which point the experience is no longer top-of-mind or the consumer decides to simply delete the ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

NCUA promises flexibility in examinations and the flexibility to prudently adjust or alter member loan terms

In an effort to help members through the coronavirus crisis, the NCUA will give credit unions the flexibility to prudently adjust or alter member loan terms and will not subject those decisions to “examiner criticism,” agency Chairman Rodney Hood said Monday. Hood, in a letter to credit unions , outlined the steps the agency is taking to address the health emergency. Those steps include requiring all agency staff to work offsite through March 30. All examination work will be conducted offsite as well, the agency said. “A credit union’s efforts to work with members in communities under stress may contribute to the strength and recovery of these communities,” Hood wrote in outlining steps that credit unions may take to help members. Those steps include: Waiving ATM fees and increasing ATM daily cash withdrawal limits. Waiving overdraft fees. Waiving early withdrawal penalties in time deposits. Easing restrictions on cashing out-of-state and non-members checks. Easing credit terms f...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

The federal government is making it impossible to be small

Bank Lawyer's Blog July 24, 2016 Credit Unions and Community Banks Both Face "Shrinkage" In his recent email newsletter (email marvin.umholtz@comcast.net for a subscription), credit union consultant Marvin Umholtz discusses the fact that credit unions face the same problem of "shrinkage" that we have discussed on this blog for some time with respect to the community banking industry . Not surprisingly, both segments of the financial services industry suffer from the same disease: crushing regulation. On July 8th the Editor In Chief for the Credit Union Journal, Lisa Freeman, launched an initiative exploring reader attitudes about the serious question of whether 74% of the credit union industry is "too small to survive" www.cujournal.com/news/opinions/forget-about-too-big-to-fail-for-cus­its-too-small-to-survive-1026267-i.html. The massive regulatory burden, much of it sourced by the federal government, had been identified as the primar...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Non-Interest income Is At Risk

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—There’s another reason credit unions should be keeping their eyes on cryptocurrency, according to one expert– it may eventually affect non-interest income, especially from debit cards and ATMs, “(Treasury Secretary) Janet Yellen and (Federal Reserve Chairman) Jerome Powell are very interested in central bank digital currencies, having the U.S. dollar issued in digital form,” noted Lou Grilli, senior innovation strategist at PSCU. “It would be stored in a wallet, just like Bitcoin.” Grilli said that could have an impact on debit usage by consumers. “Imagine your credit union members now walking into the credit union and making a deposit or withdrawal to or from my central bank digital currency. I am using the digital dollar instead of my bank account,” he said. And what happens to ATMs? Grilli asked. “Do I need a physical ATM anymore to go and get cash when I have a virtual ATM where I just transfer money from my account into my digital wallet?” Grilli asked. “Th...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Building a Digital Strategy for Post-COVID Debt Recovery

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, some credit union relief and government support programs are due to expire – and many Americans are still struggling financially. While these short-term programs have helped, the drastic disruptions in employment and member behaviors over the last several months are creating major, lasting changes for credit unions. As members look for financial solutions and alternatives while staying safe, two of the biggest shifts are increasing call volume and website traffic, prompting credit unions to evaluate and improve their digital capabilities to meet future collections and recovery needs. Credit unions are no strangers to helping members through difficult times. However, the impacts of the pandemic are widespread. The sheer volume of members faced with short- and long-term unemployment is daunting, and collection leaders must realistically re-forecast delinquencies and potential losses in a world with many unknowns. How many jobs will come b...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»