oTake a moment to recognize advances in technology. Where would CUs be without home banking, shared branching, data base marketing, online lending, etc., etc.? A lot of veterans might say credit unions would be just fine, but the reality is technology has been the great equalizer for many credit unions trying to compete with the big banks.

oSolid front-line staffers. These are the folks that interact with members on a daily basis and are the face of any credit union. Bad ones can kill you, but good ones can create loyal members for years to come. Praise your good ones!

oBe thankful for the old guard CU leaders who continue to live the credit union philosophy. You know who you are–the ones that understand that credit unions exist solely for members, nothing else. Sounds like a very easy concept, but as the credit union-to-bank conversions of recent years have shown, it's not.

oSome may call it a necessary evil, but I call it one of the things worthy of most thanks–credit union lobbyists and credit union lobbying dollars. Who would have ever thought a credit union PAC (CUNA's CULAC) would hover near the top of all PACs? That and all the great grassroots lobbying credit unions do has helped keep the tax-exemption in place, but more importantly laid the foundation for more credit union powers going forward.

oBe thankful the data collection pilot is over, and that NCUA had sense enough to do it. The numbers will still be manipulated by the bankers, but not doing it would have been worse and made lawmakers like Bill Thomas even more inquisitive about the tax-exemption.

oBe thankful CUNA Mutual is shining the spotlight on the credit card fraud problem. Some say there is no problem because of the pennies on the dollar that fraud represents in card transactions in this industry, but that's not considering the larger volume of transactions we have today. It's not catastrophic, but there is a problem and if CUNA Mutual hadn't zoomed in on it, who knows where we would be.

oThank your associations. How many industries can say they have as extensive association opportunities as credit unions. State leagues, CUNA, NAFCU, CUES, NACUSO, etc., etc. Some may say having too many is a nightmare, but this is Thanksgiving, so I say look at the positive. If you don't like them, don't join, but with so many available, it's hard not to find at least one match. Associations are invaluable for sharing information, learning from one another and ensuring CUs as an industry are focused on the right things.

oBe thankful the bottomline isn't the bottomline in the credit union industry. Fortunately credit unions aren't held captive by bottomline-driven shareholders who care more about the dollars and cents of their share price than the value members are getting from their credit unions in the form of lower fees and better rates.

oI am personally thankful the industry has awoken to the conversion threat. It's been brewing for years, and now at least they won't fly under the radar. –Comments? E-mail [email protected]