Need To Know January

Over the course of the last year, CU Times has seen:

• 29% increase in mobile visitors
• 2.1% increase in newsletter open rates

Curious about data detailing how credit union professionals engage with digital media? You can find more information in the 2021 CU Times Media Kit.

How have your media consumption habits changed in the last year? Drop me a line with your thoughts at [email protected].

• Growth Strategies – The pandemic has put many credit unions back on their heels struggling to find ways to continue the record growth they’ve seen in the past decade. Many credit unions are looking at and have executed new rebranding and renaming efforts to jumpstart the lagging growth they’ve witnessed since March.
• New Administration – The Biden-Harris Administration is expected to have some direct and potentially meaningful impact on credit unions especially inside the NCUA and the CFPB. Already, the makeup of the NCUA board has changed with the addition of Trump’s appointment of Kyle Hauptman to the board. Biden will soon pick a new chair and that is expected to be Todd Harper. Will much get done with a Democrat leader and two Republican board members? At the CFPB, Biden will replace Kathy Kraininger and it’s expected the agency will return to it’s consumer protection roots that were abandoned by the Trump Administration. We should see new regulations and new consumer lending efforts that credit unions will have to take on.
• DEI – While the diversity, equity and inclusion trend has been on our radar for months now, we are seeing a real impact happening inside the credit union industry with a record number of “Chief Diversity Officer” hires happening. DEI is at or near the top of the issues list for credit unions and we expect to cover this area more intensely in the months and years ahead.
• Mortgage Delinquencies – According to credit union and government economists, the mortgage refinance boom (which has kept credit unions in the black this year) is expected to end in the coming months. We are looking at a potential tidal wave of delinquencies happening as the refinancing slow down begins after the first of the year. Once that occurs, credit unions could be in serious financial trouble since auto loans and nearly all other lending categories are being negatively impacted by the pandemic. The main thing that could reverse this potential wave of delinquencies would be if the federal government passes a new and very large economic relief program.
• COVID-19 Task Force – In July, CUNA launched a “COVID-19 Recovery Task Force” made up of 27 credit union leaders from around the industry to study and report back to the industry on their findings. While their intentions seem to be in the right place, they appear to have struggled with finding any real meaningful tactics to help credit unions make it through the pandemic. We are planning a full editorial strategy to cover this group in a more detailed fashion to find out how or if this group is helping credit unions survive.