Helping Small CUs isn't Charity, it's What The Credit Union Movement is All About

In reading Paul Gentile’s Aug. 30 column about small credit unions, I could not agree more that small credit unions taking proactive steps to survive should be supported by the credit union movement at all levels–from peer credit unions, larger credit unions, and state and national trade associations. To me, this does not constitute an act of charity, rather the spirit of cooperation that differentiates us as a credit union movement. Paul suggests that instead of raising funds for such worthy causes as Children’s Miracle Network, our movement might do well to put that money “to work in a productive manner, such as creating some sort of compliance help center in each state that could greatly reduce the regulatory burdens of small credit unions.” In Pennsylvania, we have 629 credit unions, more than half of which are less than $7 million in assets. Like most state associations, one of our top priorities along with advocacy is compliance assistance for credit unions of all asset sizes, including small credit unions. As part of their membership in our association, credit unions receive regular compliance updates, gain access to our online policy library, can take advantage of periodic compliance town meetings and can access our toll-free compliance hotline for personalized, issue-specific compliance assistance.