President/CEO Tansley Stearns and CFO Scott Cameron of Community Financial Credit Union in a video explaining how credit unions are different than SVB and Signature Bank.
A video posted Tuesday opens on a credit union CEO and CFO sitting on a couch having a casual chat, explaining to members that their credit union and the credit union system at large is not wrapped up in the collapse and failure of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. The credit union system is different – thankfully.
In the three-minute video, Tansley Stearns, president/CEO of the Plymouth, Mich.-based Community Financial Credit Union ($1.5 billion in assets, 80,634 members) asks her CFO Scott Cameron about his reaction to the bank failures. "My initial thought was, 'Thank God I work for a credit union!' But another thought was I really feel for the individuals that are going to be impacted" by the collapsed banks.
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Cameron continued, "People aren't going to be able to make payroll. People can't get access to their funds. And there are people who aren't going to get their weekly check that need it. So that's what makes me so satisfied to work and keep my money at a credit union."
Many credit union leaders and credit union organizations are taking this moment to stop and try to re-remind and re-educate members and the general public that credit unions are not banks and do not function under the same regulatory or even investment structure.
As Stearns stated in the video, "It's a little like a fish and a dolphin; both in the ocean, but different."
Cameron added, "Yeah, and I think the difference is wider than that. It's probably more like an apple and a car. I mean there's really not much of a comparison. We accept deposits from our membership and we turn around and reinvest that into their communities."
The Raleigh, N.C.-based State Employees' Credit Union ($50.9 billion in assets, 2.7 million members) posted a reassuring message on its LinkedIn page Monday. "In light of recent financial industry events, we wanted to take a moment to assure our members of State Employees' Credit Union's continued fiscal strength. As the nation's second largest credit union with over $50 billion in assets, our deposits overwhelmingly come from a diverse array of North Carolina consumers – not any one industry. We are also a very well-capitalized credit union with 10% in capital, equating to over $5 billion in equity. Combining this equity with ample liquidity options puts your financial cooperative in good position to serve you now and into the future."
Cornerstone League President/CEO Caroline Willard emailed CU Times the following statement Tuesday: "It's important to note that the credit union system is well-capitalized and members' funds are protected. Cornerstone League is grateful to our regulators and system partners for their commitment to the protection of credit union members and the safety and soundness of the credit union system,"
NCUA Chairman Todd Harper posted Monday evening that "the NCUA is committed to the protection of credit union members and the safety and soundness of the credit union system overall. No one has ever lost a single penny of insured share deposits within the credit union system."
CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle said, "The credit union difference means that credit unions act with the best interests of member-owners at heart, and credit unions will continue to meet member needs."
Credit unions' and industry leaders' messages in the aftermath of the collapsed banks appear to have a unique ability to see the global and local credit union picture for members. Like the credit union marketing opportunities that came out of the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, SVB might present a similar window of opportunities to drive membership growth while expressing the safety of the credit union system.
Like Cameron said in the video recording, credit unions have and are touching nearly every point of life for those in their communities. "We're giving them out in consumer and small business loans and you're going and conducting your business there. You're going and visiting your friends at a house that has a mortgage from Community Financial. So we don't take those dollars and reinvest them all over who knows where. So that's really the difference – we are building the community and wealth right here in Michigan," he said.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
