Board members and members of management visited the Congressional Caucus in Washington D.C. as sponsored by the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU). Multiple topics were discussed including those that impact your membership:
- Preserving The Credit Union Tax Exemption Credit unions are a vital part of the financial services industry and provide nearly 120 million members with financial opportunities they might not otherwise have access to. The credit union tax exemption helps provide that access and over $18 billion in direct and indirect benefits to members. While there is no active legislation being considered that would eliminate the tax exemption, we asked that our representatives continue to ensure that this tax status is upheld.
- Interchange Fees Many retailers are critical of paying interchange fees to financial institutions for using payment networks and there is legislation currently under consideration to put a cap on the amount they have to pay. Under this legislation, merchants and retailers could choose which payment networks they use for credit and debit card transactions in order to lower their costs. The real impact of this legislation would be that merchants would likely choose the cheapest, and ultimately least secure, payment networks. Consumers, credit unions and other community financial institutions will ultimately pay the price for this. We strongly urged our representatives to oppose any legislative intervention on Interchange.
- Data Security Legislation – Data breaches are no longer isolated events. When data is stolen or leaked from any source it can result in substantial harm to our members, employees and to the credit union. This is a very hot topic in Congress right now and there are a number of bills being considered that address data security. We advocated strongly for any data security legislation to include national data privacy and security standards that apply to all entities (including merchants and retailers) that collect and store personal and financial information.
- Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) The CDFI designation is given by the CDFI Fund to specialized organizations (like credit unions) that provide financial services in low-income communities and to people who lack access to financing. US Eagle is in the process of applying for the CDFI designation, but the application process and the rules surrounding maintaining CDFI status are confusing and overly complicated. During our conversations, we asked that our representatives support any opportunity to streamline the application process and to ensure that the CDFI Fund remains fully funded.
