Firefighter Credit Union Newsroom

Dear Boards of Directors and Chief Executive Officers: The NCUA is monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to update its examination and supervision approach to help ensure the safety of personnel and the safety and soundness of the credit union system. In March 2020, the NCUA provided information on our examination and supervisory priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Letter to Credit Unions 20-CU-05,  Offsite Examination and Supervision Approach . While our priorities remain the same as outlined in that guidance letter, the agency has updated its approach for conducting examinations offsite. This letter provides information on changes to the NCUA’s examination and supervision approach, effective June 1, 2020. The key components of our updated approach include continuing offsite work and a return to issuing examination reports. Conducting Work Offsite The NCUA’s offsite policy for all employees and contracted support staff will remai...

The London Interbank Overnight Rate (LIBOR) is still on course to sunset at the close of 2021, or is it?  There are a number of uncertainties that currently cloud a successful exit strategy, like The onset of COVID -19, a need for the evolution of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) term structures, lack of clear direction on the index, and concerns over SOFR being controlled by a small population of money centers. These uncertainties may lead to an extension of LIBOR beyond 2021. Currently, COVID-19 is the central focus globally and domestically. The situation is consuming vast resources both monetarily and intellectually. Legislators, regulators, and industry leaders are focused on combating the health and financial fallout from the crisis with LIBOR being placed on the back burner. The current crisis has highlighted SOFR’s weakness in addressing the credit component needed to hedge risk. The current disconnect between funding cost and replacing maturing debt can be ...

WASHINGTON—New data from CUNA shows what credit unions are doing to support members’ financial well-being during the pandemic? According to the latest CUNA/American Association of Credit Union Leagues survey: 95% of credit unions surveyed are offering modifications to existing loans , including loan extensions (skip-a-payment), line of credit increases, interest-only loan repayment, reduced or no-interest loans 80% of credit unions are offering new loan products , including deferred payment, reduced or no-interest, reduced or no-interest payroll advance 85% of credit unions are waiving and reducing fees to ease the burden on members,  including waiving early withdrawal penalty on CDs, waiving skip-a-payment fees, waiving overdraft fees, waiving loan application fees and other waivers 64% of credit unions are offering financial counseling, debt consolidation or other services , including financial counseling (39%), debt consolidation (36%) and credit protection (23%)...

ARLINGTON, Va.—Existing-home sales tumbled 17.8% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.33 million units, reaching its lowest level since July 2010. NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long pointed out the drop is "an abrupt change from February's 13-year high." "The COVID-19 crisis is attacking the market on all fronts, from preventing homes being shown to buyers to widespread job losses and financial institutions tightening mortgage requirements," said Long. "Spring is usually the busiest time for home sales, but there are indications that there is pent-up demand in states that are beginning to open again. "NAFCU expects a partial recovery during the summer as pent-up demand is released, but supply shortages will continue to restrain sales," Long added. Sales decreased in all four regions of the U.S. during the month: in the West (-25%), South (-17.9%), and Northeast (-16.9%) and Midwest (-12%). Based on current...

Denver, CO — DepositAccounts.com (a subsidiary of Lending Tree) has awarded Denver Fire Department Federal Credit Union (DFDFCU) with an A+ rating for the effective management of the following factors: Capitalization, Deposit Growth, and Loan-to-Reserve Ratios. This is the highest health grade given to financial institutions by DepositAccounts.com. Being ranked as #1 Healthiest Credit Union across the nation (2018 & 2020), is the result of the Volunteer Leadership Team working in partnership with DFDFCU Management and Team Members to ensure we continue to operate safely and soundly in the best interest of our membership. This is not the first time that DFDFCU has been recognized. In 2018, DFDFCU was named #1 Healthiest Credit Union in the U.S. by DepositAccounts.com. During these times of economic uncertainty, DFDFCU stands ready to serve our members and ensure we continue to provide the products and services that will aid in our member's financial success. DepositAcco...

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring agencies to take measures to eliminate, modify, waive, or exempt burdensome regulatory requirements in efforts to help support economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The order includes independent agencies, such as the NCUA, CFPB and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and encourages agencies to speed up the rulemaking process by moving some proposed rulemakings to interim final rules with immediate effect. The order also directs agencies to take additional steps to provide coronavirus pandemic-related relief, practice enforcement discretion, and provide a report on their efforts to the Office of Management and Budget and others in the administration, NAFCU reported. Additionally, the order establishes a "Regulatory Bill of Rights," 10 basic principles of fairness that will govern the administrative enforcement and adjudication process.

May 20, 2020 CUTimes by  JEREMIAH LOTZ ,  PSCU The COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted the international economy, but it has also affected all of our daily lives. Among the various ramifications to our industry, COVID-19 is changing the way that consumers transact, meaning credit unions must be prepared for what the “new normal” might look like moving forward. Before the onset of COVID-19, cash accounted for half of the low-dollar-value transactions at the point of sale. With the heightened concerns around physical contact and the use of cash arising from the pandemic, contactless cards are now receiving more interest from consumers. Credit unions can no longer take a wait-and-see approach to contactless. Rather than a phased, natural approach to reissuing contactless cards to members now may be the time for credit unions to work with their payments processor to determine the best strategy to maintain top-of-wallet position. Contactless is Safe, Quick and Secure ...

We're going to call this a "newsletter" just for this month.  Toss It or Tune It? Toss it or Tune It: Credit Union Strategic Planning in 2020 COVID has undoubtedly impacted your 2020 strategic plan. But don't fall for the Devil's easy temptation to skip planning in 2020. Planning in a time like this is far too important. You should consider though whether to  Toss it or Tune It. Toss It: throw out the original strategic plan, temporarily, and replace it with a shorter-term Tactical Plan to get you through.  Tune It:  Look ...

By Chris Howard CreditUnions.com  Focusing on products and services won’t build lasting, sustainable success; mission-based strategy helps separate real opportunities from feel-good initiatives. “Crisis produces opportunity!” It might be a cliché, but it’s true. And the credit unions best positioned to benefit from that opportunity are those driven by strategy. In times like these, credit unions tend to focus on responding to immediate challenges, often sacrificing future potential to do so. That’s a false choice. Putting all your focus and resources toward emergency triage and first aid is missing the forest for the trees. It’s responding to the crisis but ignoring the resulting opportunity. Doing the right thing today doesn’t guarantee better outcomes tomorrow. You need a solid plan to turn today’s goodwill into deeper, more sustainable relationships in the future. That’s why investing in strategy is now more important than ever. A long-term, actionable vision, deep...