The President’s Perspective

​CUNA launches campaign to protect interchange; support our Foundation with a chance to win a pair of e-bikes; registration is officially open for New Ideas Conference, and more! 

Greetings all! It’s a big week here at the Dakota Credit Union Association as we kick off our fall education season, as well as our annual Foundation Golf Scramble in Fargo. After months of planning (with a little vacation time here and there) the DakCU team is tanned, rested, and ready to connect and engage with members heading into a busy fall calendar.

Things get underway on Tuesday with our CU Professionals Forum and Large Credit Union CEO Roundtable meetings; both events begin with a joint luncheon at 11:00 a.m. We will begin our dialogue with a presentation and update on CUNA Strategic Services from Barb Lowman, CSS President. When credit unions need solutions, better ways of doing things, or a strategic plan for the future, they turn to CUNA CSS, and we are very pleased that Barb is able to attend our meeting in person!

CUNA launches “Protect My Card” Campaign
We are just 85 days from the midterm election – and as Congress will be on recess for the remainder of August, our immediate attention is on credit card interchange. In less than one month, a group of Dakota Credit Union advocates will travel to Washington, DC to meet with our Dakota congressional delegation as well as having sit-down meetings with our regulators.

As we prepare for these meetings it is extremely important that we are all engaged and push back against the credit card bill from Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill). Known as the Credit Card Competition Act, the proposed bill would require covered credit card issuers to add a second network to their customers’ cards, allowing them to choose only from certain options set by the Fed. Basically, this bill would take away consumer choices for credit cards, increase cybersecurity risks, and raise prices for consumers.  

Last week, CUNA announced they have launched a “Protect My Card” Member Activation Program (MAP) campaign to urge credit union members to share concerns about the interchange bill introduced in the Senate. The campaign is designed to educate credit union staff and members about the risks this legislation presents to the credit card system. There is no doubt this bill would harm consumers as well as small businesses – and we need to let Congress know. CUNA, the leagues, as well as the American Bankers Association and all state bank associations, are uniting to voice strong opposition to the bill. You can find more information here: protectinterchange.com and don’t hesitate to reach out to me or Jay Kruse, our Chief Advocacy Officer, with any questions.
 
E-bike raffle tickets going fast!
As you know, our Dakota Credit Union Foundation has a limited number (250 total) of tickets being sold at $50 each for a chance to win a pair of top-rated Ride1UP e-bikes! This whole prize package is worth $3,390 – and tickets sales have been brisk! A limit of five tickets per person or organization will be allowed, and a live grand prize drawing will be held at the close of our New Ideas Conference being held October 3 – 4 in Bismarck. After just one week, 30 tickets have already been sold. We don’t expect these tickets to last long – so don’t wait too long to secure yours. You can find more information here.
 
#ILoveMyCreditUnion social media blitz reaches 6 million!
A big shout out to the Dakota credit unions that participated in the 2nd annual #ILoveMyCreditUnion social media blitz on July 29. The event once again produced a global reach of more than six million people along with 55,000 active engagements.

In all, more than 850 organizations and people across all fifty states and eleven countries participated in the one-day blitz, which was designed to encourage authentic high-energy conversation across social media platforms to build credit union awareness. All told, some 7,000 people generated creative content as part of the initiative.

New Ideas registration officially open!
Your DakCU team is excited to announce that registration is officially open for our 2022 New Ideas Conference! This year, we are headed to the historic Black Leg Ranch, a place that takes pride in Dakotas’ history and legacy. Located just twenty-five miles southeast of Bismarck, Black Leg Ranch is the perfect setting for this year’s event. Remember, this event has limited capacity and does fill up fast, so we recommend you make plans now to attend and REGISTER EARLY! We hope to see you there!

Celebrating Debbie Kruckenberg
As you may know, Debbie Kruckenberg will be retiring at the end of this month after more than 46 years serving Dakota’s credit unions. The association is holding an open house celebration in her honor on Tuesday, August 30 from 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. at our Bismarck office. Please join us for refreshments and wish Deb well on her next life adventure! There will also be a Zoom link available for those who cannot attend in person – watch the Memo for further details!

DakCU President/CEO