The group continued, "How much further away from their mission to serve people of modest means do credit unions have to get before Congress will do something about it? We have to keep hammering Congress on the bad public policy this represents, and also look for other ways to attack the problem."

The group's task force aimed "to try to convince Congress to level the tax and regulatory playing field between community banks and credit unions while it strongly opposes the National Credit Union Administration's expansionist agenda."

The trade group has established an email address [email protected] for community bankers to post examples of "credit unions' egregious actions."

The group also has provided its members with a customizable op-ed they can submit to local news media, complete with fill-in-the-blank spaces in which local bankers can simply insert their states.

In a related development, the New York Assembly Banks Committee approved legislation that would allow the state's municipalities to deposit funds in credit union.

The bill, which now goes to the Assembly's Ways and Means Committee, has not been considered by the state Senate.

The state legislature is scheduled to adjourn later this week, but that deadline could slip.

Credit unions have been lobbying heavily in favor of the bill, while the state's banking trade groups have been fighting it.