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Articles by Mark Bugalski
Should credit unions be prepared to conduct a climate risk analysis?
After the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton here in Florida just a few weeks ago, the effects of climate change on our weather patterns are top of mind. What will be the next devastating weather event, who will it effect, and how can we be ready for it? These questions are important for credit unions to consider, especially as they are planning for the future.
Vision casting: Mid-year insights for credit union leaders
As we move beyond the midpoint of the year, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that have defined the first half of 2024. For credit unions, the landscape has been particularly complex, and the road ahead requires a combination of creativity, resilience, and strategic foresight. First and foremost, it’s crucial to acknowledge that there is no panacea for the multifaceted risks faced by the financial sector today. Recent events have underscored this reality.
New year, new NCUA budget, same old outcome
Credit unions are an integral part of the American economy. They provide safe and affordable financial products and services to their nearly 140 million members and Main Street small businesses. As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, every dollar that goes into a credit union goes back into serving their members and communities – unless it’s money they’re required to pay to their federal regulator. For credit unions, that regulator is the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
Why credit unions must lead in early childhood financial education
America is in a financial crisis. No, not like the 2008 meltdown that engulfed the entire world overnight. This financial crisis is gradually crippling the country, draining American pocketbooks of hundreds of billions of dollars every year. In 2023, in the most prosperous country in history, Americans lost a staggering $350 billion a year due to mismanagement of our personal finances. The data is devastating: Fifty-six percent of Americans don’t have the savings to cover a $1,000 emergency expense.
Interest rate cap proposal would hurt small dollar borrowers
A rate cap bill introduced by Sen. Jake Reed, D-RI is raising concerns about its potential negative impact on consumers who need access to small dollar loans. CUNA, NAFCU, and other financial trade associations joined in a letter to address this and other issues with the bill, which would cap consumer loan rates at 36%.
CFPB raises HMDA, Reg Z thresholds for 2024
The CFPB has finalized annual changes to the asset-size exemption thresholds under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and Regulation Z for 2024, based on the 4.1 percent increase in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the 12-month period ending in November 2023. Under HMDA, the bureau increased the exemption threshold to $56 million from $54 million. Credit unions with assets of $56 million or less as of Dec.
With FedNow, every depository institution can offer real-time payments
The launch of FedNow is a milestone in America’s journey towards payments modernization, enabling another option for digital payments 24 hours a day, every day of the year. While faster real-time payments have been available through The Clearing House’s rails and other popular solutions for faster payments like Zelle, many credit unions have been slower to adopt as they carefully weigh the risks and advantages.
A taste of bank or credit union consumer experience training
Bank or credit union consumer experience training is one of the best ways to excite staff about the work you did during a journey mapping session. It explains your new experience program to them and prepares them to deliver high quality service to members and customers. It’s also fun…a key element of breaking through with any piece of training content. But what does a training session look like?
Embracing digital transformation: Key trends in consumer banking solutions
Over the next ten years, the United States will experience an immense transfer of wealth from older Americans to largely Millennials, Generation Z (Gen Z), and Generation X (Gen X). $16 trillion to be exact. Wouldn’t you want your financial institution to retain or acquire a piece of that pie? These consumers are about to inherit the greatest transfer of intergenerational wealth, which is a huge opportunity for financial institutions to capture deposits and establish life-long relationships.
NCUA Board finalizes 2024-2025 and Central Liquidity Facility Budgets
Following its October budget proposal and subsequent commenting period, the NCUA Board has approved the 2024-2025 and Central Liquidity Budgets. In October, the NCUA had proposed a substantial increase to its Operating budgets for 2024, up nearly $38 million from $344 million in 2023 to $382 million in 2024, an 11.0% increase. The response from trade groups and credit unions alike was swift: the proposed budget increases were too high.
3 Questions with Adlumin's Jessvin Thomas
CUInsight Publisher & CEO Lauren Culp is joined by Jessvin Thomas, Chief Product Officer at Adlumin for a quick interview with just 3 questions about technology and security… Three questions: (0:27) Generative AI and chatgpt have been a big topic of interest lately. What is your take on the subject, how can credit unions benefit and what risks should we be aware of? (4:03) Many credit unions were impacted by citrixbleed as well indirectly from third party outages.
How to get your finances ready for the new year
For most people, January is a time to prepare for the year ahead. The most popular way to do that is by making New Year’s resolutions, but people also like to prepare by cleaning their homes, scheduling medical appointments and even taking advantage of post-holiday sales. If you really want to own the new year, though, you’ll also want to make sure your finances are prepared for the year ahead. This might sound like a complicated, tedious process, but it’s really not.
The future of retail banking: A look into the crystal ball
The 2024 Retail Banking Crystal Ball research project gathered input from large global and national banks as well as regional banks, community institutions, credit unions, fintech firms, vendors and advisors spread across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions. To answer questions facing financial institutions as we enter the new year, the Digital Banking Report asked people in the industry to provide their projections regarding what will happen in the future … and when?
From bookstore to Amazon: How a new paradigm spurs credit union growth
For credit unions, new member acquisition can be a costly proposition. The price to acquire a new member is around $400, each of whom generates around $100-200 annually. Many of those members will churn before the credit union has a chance to generate revenue from their accounts. For corporate accounts in the financial services industry — and credit unions taking on more business clients — the onboarding time is on the order of 100 days.
Impediments & achievements: Hindsight gleaned from 2023
2023 has offered an assortment of learning opportunities, and as we highlight insights provided by Callahan & Associates from Q3[1] it becomes evident that credit unions are traversing a landscape equally marked by opportunities and challenges. Beyond the traditional metrics of savings, share growth, delinquency rates, and loan originations, our exploration extends to critical facets that demand attention and foresight when it comes to growth and managing risk.
Are we there yet? A closer look into challenging conditions for credit unions
The credit union industry has faced many challenges in recent years, including a persistent period of high inflation, rising interest rates, compressed income margins, and stagnant demand in the economy. This economic phenomenon has been difficult for many credit unions to navigate. The economy has prompted many questions over the last several years from, “Are we headed into, or in a recession?” “Are we out of pandemic norms or into the new?”.
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