Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
FEBRUARY 14, 2018 | VOL. 29 | NO. 5 | CUTIMES.COM
Y17Y16
Trades Report Busy 2017 for CU PACs
DAVID BAUMANN
dbaumann@cutimes.com
Disruptive innovation isn’t just about
technology – it’s about doing things few
others dare to try. In this Focus Report, three
fearless credit unions inspire others to forge
their own unique paths to success. Y6
DISRUPTIVE
INNOVATION
FOCUSREPORT:
Market
Invention
Trends
It’s time
for CUs to
disrupt. Y10
Considering
Disruptive
Tech
Handle
technophobia
with care. Y8
ast year was not a regular election year, but you
couldn’t tell it by looking
at the political contributions made by CULAC — CUNA’s
political action arm.
CULAC contributed more than
$1.7 million to House and Senate
incumbents and challengers, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Among all political action committees, CULAC ranked ninth in
total contributions, making it the
largest among the financial services PACs.
NAFCU operates a much smaller PAC and it contributed $177,000
to House and Senate candidates.
But credit union issues were
hot last year, said Chad Adams,
NAFCU’s director of political affairs, citing regulatory overhaul
proposals, as well as tax, data security and housing legislation.
And many of those issues are
still pending before Congress.
“We tend to
contribute in the
neighborhood of
$3 million,” Trey
Hawkins, CUNA’s
vice president of
political affairs,
said. “It’s pretty
straightforward.
We tend to identify
a pro-credit union candidate in
every race.”
Must Reads
Y15
REGULATION
What’s Next for the CFPB?
A federal appeals court decision
in late January upholding the
lawfulness of the CFPB’s independent, single-director design
will carry wide implications as
companies continue to challenge the agency and sets the
stage for a final showdown in the
U.S. Supreme Court.
The decision, upholding the
power structure at the agency,
won’t be the last word on the
case. Either side could decide to
take the dispute to the U.S. Supreme Court, and things could
get tricky there.
For the moment, the D.C.
Circuit’s ruling in PHH v. CFPB
keeps the status quo — the
president can only remove the
agency director for cause, not
at will, a protection that kept
the Obama-appointed director,
Richard Cordray, in power even
as the Trump administration
faced pressure to fire him.
Mick Mulvaney, the White
House budget director, is the
interim leader of the agency.
(The Cordray-picked successor,
Leandra English, is suing over
Mulvaney’s appointment.)
What follows are three considerations about the fallout from
the ruling — and what might be
next.
1. The Supreme Court is
probably the next venue, but
it’ll get tricky there.
The U.S. Justice Department,
under U.S. Attorney General Jeff
Sessions, abandoned
POLITICS
Adams
Net
Neutrality’s
End May
Impact CUs
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
When it comes to any talk about
the potential impact of the recent
Federal Communications Commission’s decision to end net neutrality, what you may hear throughout
credit union land is nothing but the
sounds of silence.
Nevertheless, there are a few
credit union professionals who are
trying to sound the alarm and warn
the industry that the removal of the
net neutrality rules may lead to serious repercussions in operations,
payments and marketing. Net neutrality, enacted in 2015, prohibited
internet service providers from discriminating against any lawful content and applications.
Other credit union professionals,
however, don’t think credit unions
will be affected because their content, or the products and services
they provide, won’t necessarily become prime targets of abuse in the
absence of net neutrality.
To get a taste for how the net neutrality rollback can enrage consumers, credit union executives may
want to view an eye-opening video
produced by Burger King.
But first, to fully appreciate the
video’s effectiveness, it’s important
to understand that the rollback of
net neutrality rules will mean that
internet service providers
TECHNOLOGY
