The President’s Perspective

​FOM expansion could allow credit unions to help underserved areas; Dakota CU awareness progressing this summer; and get ready to show your "credit union love" this July with one shared hashtag!

​Greetings and Happy Monday!

Here we are wrapping up another month and heading into the “official” summer season kickoff with the Memorial Day weekend upon us. It’s a busy time for most of us here in the Dakotas. Planting season is underway, graduation celebrations are taking place, and family summer vacation plans are in the works and fast approaching. Although Memorial Day is typically celebrated with barbecues, family picnics, and other fun outdoor activities, it's really a day for remembrance. It's a day to honor those men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice protecting our freedom. May we always remember that freedom isn’t free. Let’s respectfully remember those heroes as we count our many blessings. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.

First significant credit union legislation in 14 years passes in House Committee.
Last Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee approved H.R. 7003, which is a CUNA-League sponsored bill to expand credit unions to serve underserved areas through Field of Membership (FOM) expansion. The bill passed by a vote of 27-22; as the tally suggests, it was a party-line vote. 

This is the first time since 2008 that a congressional committee has advanced legislation adjusting credit union field of membership restrictions, and the first time since 1998 that FOM legislation has moved through on its own as a stand-alone bill. Now that that bill has successfully moved through the committee, we have the opportunity to try to push it further through the legislative process.

We did expect passage in committee to go through on a party line vote, but the silver lining here is that the debate on the legislation was rather benign. Only one member spoke against the legislation, and our understanding is that his comments were prepared by the minority committee staff and delivered out of courtesy to the ranking member who has COVID. The largely muted opposition did not happen by accident. All things considered, this was a best-case scenario going into the day.  It took a lot to get there, and everyone deserves appreciation and congratulations for the effort and outcome.

The committee also approved legislation providing NCUA with third party vendor authority. During the debate, a number of members raised concerns that this legislation was overly broad because it was not focused on cyber security and money laundering. The CUNA-League system jointly shared those concerns in a letter to the committee and proposed language to limit the scope of the bill to these matters. We understand that NCUA and the majority committee staff were in discussions regarding limiting the legislation up until the debate on the legislation; this perhaps gives us an opportunity to continue to push for changes in the event the legislation is brought before the House for debate. More to come.
 
Dakota State-Wide Awareness Program (SWAP) progresses.
It’s not a marketing thing, it’s a movement. As we shared during the Summit earlier this month, our Statewide Awareness Program (SWAP) is fully “locked and loaded” and set to move into phase two. Thanks to your support, we will be launching multiple ads across the Dakotas with Gas Station TV (GSTV) starting on June 1st and going through the entire summer! Be on the lookout for those ads starting in just a few short weeks. (Perhaps our ads will provide some comfort and hope for folks as they fill up at the pumps.)

In addition to the national digital platforms and local GSTV, our Marketing Director, Lindsey Hefta, is working on multiple graphics to be placed in many of our Dakota newspapers. More to come on that soon – along with additional marketing on various other media platforms. Be sure to contact Lindsey if you need help obtaining or creating assets for your own promotional use. As always, you can still participate and become a contributor, which has significant benefits and advantages, including preferential placement on the “Your Money Further” website. Please feel free to reach out me or Lindsey at [email protected] for more information.

#ILoveMyCreditUnion 2022!
After the hugely successful launch of last year’s all-out social media blitz – #ILoveMyCreditUnion – our friends at the Illinois Credit Union League (ILCUL) are spearheading the event once again on July 29, 2022. Last year, on one single day, the trending hashtag reached more than 22 MILLION people in 9 countries – and this year is likely to be even bigger!

The idea is so simple – all they ask is that on July 29, you make a social media post – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, using #ILoveMyCreditUnion. That’s it! The idea is to get that hashtag trending, bringing more attention to our great industry. (Photo above is Jeff Olson from last year's #ILoveMyCreditUnion blitz.)

There is a wide assortment of turn-key tools for you to use – premade graphics, selfie signs, and even printable engagement icons for your members to sign and display at your credit union! Find all this and more here. Be sure to click the “Sign Up” link to register – this is to let the ILCUL track how many organizations are participating, nothing more. There is no commitment, no charge, no obligations. Our association has already sign up, and a big shout out to M-O FCU (Huron, SD) – one of the first credit unions to sign up this year! I hope to see many more of our Dakota credit unions on that list soon. Let’s do this, and let’s have some fun!

Town Hall Tuesday – Q3 CEO Virtual Town Hall planned for July 12.
We are looking forward to connecting with Dakota Credit Union Leaders though our digital channels this summer. Out next Virtual CEO Town Hall is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12 at 3:00 p.m. CT (2:00 p.m. MT). Watch for an invite with the meeting link coming soon to your email inbox.

Western Small Credit Union Conference set for July 17-19.
The Dakota Credit Union Association is partnering with CUNA and western leagues from New Mexico, Mountain West, Montana, and Utah in sponsoring a low-cost, small asset sized credit union conference July 17-19 in Salt Lake City, UT. This conference is designed to help small credit unions transform their organizations so that they can better meet the financial needs of members and stay relevant into the years ahead. More importantly, attendees will have the opportunity to network with other small credit union leaders from eight states: Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, Arizona, and New Mexico. To learn more and register click here.

Have a great week,

DakCU President/CEO