Commentary

In reading some recent credit union commentary, including a June 28 column by Paul Gentile, I couldn't help but think of the words of John Donne: "No man is an island, entire of itself." While Donne, in declaring that "every man is a piece of the continent, a part of...

The title character in the Pogo comic strip once uttered the now famous line, "We have met the enemy and it is us." He could have been talking about credit unions. There are many external threats to the industry (e.g., threat of taxation, diminishing margin spreads, excessive regulation) but the...

Here's Freddie Mac's basic forecast for the next seven months: moderate economic growth, gradually rising interest rates, steady employment growth, a cooling housing market and a $400 billion plunge in mortgage originations compared to last year. Which means, like the financial industry's mega-lenders, the nation's credit unions will be under...

The consolidation trend continues as more and more credit unions, small and large, healthy and troubled, consider merger as a legitimate strategic response to increasing competition for market share.

LATHAM, N.Y. - Covera Card Solutions, formerly the New York Credit Union League's Card Services program, has found a good deal of success since signing on with CO-OP Network for ATM processing.

The other day, as I was riding to the Treasury Department to outline credit union and CUNA financial education and literacy efforts before the meeting of the Treasury's Financial Literacy and Education Commission, I got to thinking about contrasts-particularly between credit unions and banks.

The ongoing threat of terrorism, the impact of last year's hurricane season, and the pending avian flu pandemic have once again turned the attention of the public, the regulators, and managers nationwide toward Business Continuity Planning (BCP). This intensified focus directs leaders throughout every industry to review their situations and...

Managing auto loan portfolios has become increasingly complex in recent years, in part because of the growing number of "skips" and increasing deficiency balances. These trends make it imperative to be proactive and diligent in your loss mitigation efforts, and your collateral protection program plays an integral part of that...