United States Capitol dome silhouette and the national flags of U.S. rounding Washington Monument – Washington D.C. (Image: Shutterstock).
In a show of unity, credit union leaders from NAFCU, CUNA and the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) launched some heavily-worded artillery, in the form of letters, to members of the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services in an attempt to defend credit unions housed on military bases.
Each year, it seems, once the National Defense Authorization Act comes around for legislative markups, credit union officials have to go on the offensive to not only keep the rent-free status of credit unions located on military bases, but to also defend against banks looking for equal treatment on those same bases.
On Tuesday, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle, NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger and DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez sent two jointly-signed letters to the leaders of both the House and Senate committees to make their first arguments to protect the credit union military base status, since credit unions function on a not-for-profit basis, unlike banks.
"This focus on service to their members and their base, over profits, has led Congress to give the DoD discretionary authority to allow credit unions to use land and space on military bases at a nominal rate. Historically, defense credit unions have been asked to remain on base to alleviate the high transactional costs coupled with poor service by other financial institutions. It is no secret, being member-owned and not-for-profit is how defense credit unions keep interest rates low and responsive to member needs (e.g., deployment), which improves the financial readiness of our military. Other financial institutions simply cannot match the credit union difference," the letter stated.
The letters from the credit union leaders specifically targeted Wells Fargo and Bank of America as the large for-profit entities asking Congress for "parity" with credit unions on the issue of the Military Leasing Act.
"It is alarming that large banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, who regularly earn billions in profits, would be equal to not-for-profit credit unions if such a provision were to become law," the letter stated.
The letter continued, "Rather than seek a productive solution available to them under current law, they have opted to target their long-time nemesis credit unions in the process."
Currently, President Biden's discretionary spending request for FY 2022 has been submitted to the Senate Committee on Appropriations. While the credit union issue is a relatively small part of the overall bill, credit unions and banks treat it as a line they must defend. It is expected lawmakers will begin markup of the bill this summer.
Both letters are available to read here:
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
