Despite all the credit union industry time, talent, political capital, and money put into getting the latest in a long line of bankruptcy reform bills passed, the measure still died. The Senate adjourned for the final time this year last Wednesday night without ever considering the stripped down version passed...

If there was any doubt that credit unions have once and for all shed their cautious approach to bare knuckle politics, and seemingly overnight become a major player in the rock `em, sock `em political action process, there should be none after analyzing the outcome of the state and national...

One of the personal joys of writing a weekly column of opinion for Credit Union Times every single week since April, 1990, is both getting candid reader reactions, but also observing the emergence of developments related to the various topics covered here. For example, NAFCU's CEO Fred Becker took me...

Credit union marketing has really come into its own since the days when "marketing" was a dirty word in CU land and "member education" was the preferred terminology. But in many credit unions, it still has a long ways to go. Today, virtually every credit union of any size has...

There's an old saying, "never look a gift horse in the mouth." To which I would add, unless sitting astride that horse is a powerful United States Congressman who apparently feels he knows what's best for credit unions. John LaFalce, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, recently announced...

As the number of credit unions continue to drop, the number of paid subscribers for most credit union publications has either been static or declining. Yet some publications are advertising growing numbers of subscribers and readers. How can this be? As everyone knows, the honest way to measure the real...

There's been more discussion about small credit unions than usual in recent weeks, much of it generated by NCUA Board Member Deborah Matz's oft-expressed concern that their number is dropping faster than she initially realized. On the other hand, there is a lot less talk about large credit unions, unless...

Rudy Giuliani is not only an American hero, but one who can deliver a message that rings true to credit unions. As the keynote speaker, the former mayor of New York City and Time Magazine's Person of the Year came across as someone who could relate to virtually every person...