Credit unions seem to be gaining new stature in the Federal Reserve system based on new overtures from at least one key district bank, CU officials reported.

The latest Fed inquiry on collection of CU loan and economic data came from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which met earlier this month with members of a CU economic coalition headed by Tun Wai, NAFCU's economist/director of research.

In recognizing CUs as economic players in local communities and the business sector, New York Fed staffers expressed newfound interest in accessing CU data following practices in play at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

“The Fed banks are simply used to hearing the commercial banker side in gathering data and now seem to be coming around to realizing our role,” said Wai who took part in an April 14 meeting of the Credit Union Economics Group with New York Fed President William Dudley.

Also participating from CUEG were CU financial officers from various U.S. cities along with David Colby, CUNA Mutual Group chief economist.

CUEG has been holding annual meetings with Fed bank executives for eight years “but this was the first time we visited the New York Fed,” said Wai. Among the district banks, the New York Fed has the highest profile because of its role on the Federal Open Market Committee. Dudley is vice chairman of the committee.