Credit unions

This year likely won't match 2022's heights, but executives expect loan growth to remain solid.

Roughly 40,000 residents of Moore County have been left without power since Saturday, when gunfire damaged two substations. Financial institutions are urging residents to use online banking and call centers if they do not have access to a branch.

USAlliance Federal Credit Union in Rye, New York, has agreed to merge with Marriott Employees' Federal Credit Union in Bethesda, Maryland, to create a nearly $3 billion-asset organization.

Collins Community Credit Union in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Monday that it laid off 38 employees, primarily in its mortgage lending division. In September, GreenState Credit Union in North Liberty, Iowa, cut 42 employees, or about 5% of its workforce.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's review of credit card late fees has ignited pushback from industry that supports an expected 9% jump in fees next year pegged to inflation. 

Multiple factors have slowed residential sales, tightening the market for home loans for banks and credit unions.

Although small banks and credit unions are enjoying healthier loan portfolios, they are also bracing for potential setbacks due to higher interest rates and inflation.

Credit unions and banks need to ask themselves if they're finding ways to say "yes" to consumers who too often hear "no" from mainstream institutions. Otherwise, they perpetuate a system that excludes the poor and people of color and drive them toward nonbanks, said Pablo DeFilippi of Inclusiv Network and other experts.

Community lenders may choose to stop serving small businesses rather than absorb the expense of collecting information on race and ethnicity under a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

More than 180 community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions will receive the federal funds under a pandemic-era program. “It’s a lifesaver,” a credit union CEO said.