Commentary

While millions of American children are away at college, are you aware how rapidly their credit card debt is growing? From the time they arrive on campus until graduation, students' overall credit card debt doubles. Amazingly, college students hold an average of four credit cards. And while student credit card...

It is a constant challenge to build the leadership capabilities in any credit union - or any organization for that matter. The typical approach is to send managers to different training events throughout the year expecting and hoping they will learn how to be better managers and leaders. After these...

It had its roots in the manufacturing sector and the "process improvement" craze. Now it's spawned an entire industry offering research, consulting, seminars, and other materials. It's the concept of "best practices," and it's clearly gotten the attention of credit unions, especially when it comes to technology. Several factors make...

Managing loan portfolios has become increasingly complex in recent years, in part because of the growing number of bankruptcies. According to CUNA, loans subject to bankruptcies have increased 15 % and net charge-offs have risen 32% since 1996. These trends make it imperative that credit unions not only remain consistently...

CUSOs have emerged as an important organizational option for the credit union system over the past decade. The two primary kinds of CUSO's-wholly-owned by one credit union and multi-owned by credit unions and/or private firms-have continued to play major roles in credit union success. Or have they? Unlike other sectors...

Although I retired as president and CEO of Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union nearly eight years ago, I continue to follow developments in the credit union movement with interest and pride, but also on occasion, a sense of disappointment. As I continue to read stories reporting the sale of credit...

Times are changing, members are aging. Numerous industry sources discussing the future of credit unions have all stressed the importance of acquiring young members. But how do you get their attention? More importantly, how do you make a credit union a vital part of their life? An extreme paradigm shift...

We need additional tools that allow credit unions to get the capital they need to continue providing members services, to open branches and accept deposits, and which ensure that those who stand to make share-deposits have an additional layer of protection between themselves and that insurance. Capital is what stands...