Banks Quiet on Co-op Study - As Were Major Media Outlets

The National Cooperative Business Association was hoping that its joint study with the Consumer Federation of America on the trustworthiness of cooperatives would get a lot more media play than it did (CU Times, Oct. 8). “I think the problem was we were competing with the Do Not Call news. That’s what all the consumer reporters were doing,” said Jeannine Kenney, PR spokesperson for NCBA. She said print coverage was pretty weak, but there was a lot of radio coverage. In the credit union world, NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker and CUNA EVP/COO Pete Crear both got time on radio stations for the study. Kennedy noted that the bankers have been quiet on the study, which among other things found that 71% of consumers were more likely to use a credit union if they knew it was a cooperative.