The President’s Perspective

​Q4 CEO Town Hall set for today; DakCU advocacy team is taking shape; Dakota CEO dialogue added to MonDak agenda; and more. 

Q4 CEO Town Hall Tuesday is set for today.
As winterlike weather hits our region today, it means we are knee-deep into the fourth quarter and on the run towards year-end. I am looking forward to connecting with many of you today during our virtual CEO Town Hall. Our call is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CT (2 p.m. MT). CEOs should have received a calendar invite via email, but don’t hesitate to contact me if you need the link.  

ICU Day is celebrated across the Dakotas.
Dakota credit unions flooded social media last week, sharing their stories, highlighting the credit union difference, and engaging their members with open houses, lunches, and many prize giveaways. With both North Dakota Governor Burgum and South Dakota Governor Noem signing official proclamations in honor of the day, we truly had cause to celebrate! I want to send a shout out to all the credit unions that joined in recognizing International Credit Union Day (ICU Day) on Thursday; we were certainly pleased to see so many of our Dakota credit unions reaching out to members and the general public, as social media was buzzing with positive credit union messages! Be sure to check out this related story in the Memo to see what some of our credit unions did to celebrate.

DakCU 360-degree advocacy taking shape.
For the first time in six months, we have a full advocacy team here at the Association! With the engagement of two new staff members, we now have a Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs, John Alexander, and a Director of Political & Grassroots Affairs, Chesney Garnos. John will primarily focus on North Dakota issues from our office in Bismarck, while Chesney will be working on South Dakota issues from our office in Sioux Falls, while working closely together on our overall advocacy strategy. Last week, we spent several days together in advocacy training to bring them up to speed quickly and efficiently.

You have often heard me say that advocacy is at the heart of providing membership value, and it continues to be our top priority. It is our belief that credit union advocacy will be our greatest contribution to our credit unions’ sustainable success, and this includes an agenda that removes regulatory barriers, creates awareness, grows membership, and fosters member service excellence every day. We look forward to serving you and protecting credit unions and their members now, and in the future.

Dakota CEO dialogue added to MonDak agenda.
Who wouldn’t love a quick getaway in the middle of a cold Dakota winter? Make you plans to join us for the MonDak Roundtable being held January 17-18, 2024, in warm and sunny Las Vegas, Nevada! MonDak has become one of our top educational and networking opportunities where credit union leaders can network, collaborate, and share ideas through workshops and discussion guided by a professional lineup of top industry thought leaders. Please note: MonDak is exclusively for senior management, CEOs, and volunteer board members. 

On a side note, MonDak will look a little different than previous years. First, due to the Super Bowl being held in Las Vegas in February, we moved our event to the third week in January of 2024. We are pleased to include credit union leaders from Minnesota for the first time, as well as our friends from Montana, for this high-level educational and networking opportunity. We have also added a Dakota CEO dialogue to the agenda this year. Register by November 22 to take advantage of best pricing and visit the event page for more details.  I hope to see you there!

Fed to consider lower debit card interchange fee cap.  
The Federal Reserve will hold a meeting on Wednesday where they will consider a proposal that would lower the interchange fees or lower the fee cap on debit card purchases. Retailers and merchants have been asking the Fed to lower debit card interchange fees for years, and the Supreme Court agreed last month it would hear a case seeking to force the Fed to do so. The Fed can lower the cap if it determines the costs for processing debit card payments are declining, but it has never done so.

If you recall, the Durbin Amendment within the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act gave the Fed the power to set caps for financial institutions with $10 billion or more in assets. Debit card interchange fee revenue collected by financial institutions plummeted after the fee cap kicked in but has been rising in recent years as more people shift from shopping with cash to cards.

The Durbin fee cap had big implications on the payments sector. In fact, Durbin 1.0 showed that any savings were mainly realized by major retailers, as more than 20 percent increased their prices. Also, a recent GAO study ranked Durbin 1.0 Debit Amendment “among the top five laws most cited as having significantly affected the cost and availability of basic banking services.” 
 
The Fed meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. (CT). If you would like to listen in, the meeting will be livestreamed on the Board’s website.

DakCU Awards open today. 
Each year, DakCU recognizes outstanding leadership and engagement within our Dakota credit union community by presenting prestigious honors at the Awards Banquet during the Annual DakCU Summit. I am happy to announce that nominations are officially open today. Categories include Marketing and Communications, Social Impact, Professional of the Year, Emerging Leader, Volunteer of the Year, Chapter of the Year, and of course, our Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award. Nomination forms and additional information are available here. Dakota credit unions and many accomplished credit union professionals have gone above and beyond for our industry, and they deserve to be formally recognized. Please consider submitting a nomination (or nominations) today.

Have a great week!

DakCU President/CEO