HONOLULU — In addressing NAFCU's 40th Annual Conference this morning, former Secretary of Labor and economist Robert Reich said that federal credit unions have a competitive advantage in their service.
Reich outlined three vectors impacting the economy–globalization, technological changes, and demographics–all of which affect how much money is flowing into federal credit unions. "It means the banks are going to be trying to get more and more of your members," he summed up. He added that banks will try even harder to fight back credit union efforts to expand their powers because of increasing competition.
"One of the great things you have going for you in terms of competition is relational capital," Reich noted. That personal knowledge of credit union members will become more and more important for credit unions.
Recommended For You
"It creates a long-term competitive advantage," he said. "Many of our large banks do not have it at all."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
