OLYMPIA, Wash.–The national trade associations, federal and state regulators, and American Share Insurance all jumped into the debate in Washington State over whether to permit private primary deposit insurance for the state's credit unions. Ultimately, the Washington Credit Union League and the credit unions that had been advocating for an implementing regulation asked for the rulemaking process to be postponed while they pursued legislative changes to make the private insurance option more feasible.

NAFCU was founded to ensure federal deposit insurance for credit unions and strongly opposes private insurance for primary share coverage. "While we recognize that secondary share insurance (i.e., insuring shares above the ceiling provided under by federal insurance) provided by private entities is important, NAFCU believes that primary share insurance should only be provided by the Federal government," NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker wrote in an Aug. 7 letter to Washington State Department of Financial Institutions Credit Union Director Linda Jekel.

Without federal backing, he added, "NAFCU believes that primary share insurance coverage provided by private entities is fundamentally flawed and cannot adequately protect American depositors."