Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
MARCH 7, 2018 | VOL. 29 | NO. 7 | CUTIMES.COM
Y18Y16
Must Reads
Y15
FOCUSREPORT:
BUSINESS GROWTH
To compete with larger financial institutions, credit unions must get
creative when utilizing tools to grow their business. In this Focus Report,
learn how marketing automation can help them level the playing field. Y8
MANAGEMENT
Mandatory 401(k) Plans?
The Insured Retirement Institute
is throwing its weight behind legislation that would require all but
the smallest employers to sponsor 401(k) plans.
The Automatic Retirement
Plan Act of 2017, sponsored by
Rep. Richard Neal, D-MA, would
provide a “purely private sector solution” to the access gap
in workplace retirement plans,
Lee Covington, SVP and general
counsel at IRI, said in a press call.
Rep. Neal’s bill requires all private sector employers with more
than 10 employees to offer a defined contribution retirement
plan. Covington said the mandate is prescribed “in a way to
make it painless for small business owners.”
IRI’s support for the bill is laid
out in the organization’s 2018 Retirement Security Blueprint. Previous Blueprints from IRI, whose
membership includes insurers,
broker-dealers and asset managers, have supported legislation
advanced by Rep. Neal and others that would mandate enrollment in IRAs for workers without
access to a retirement plan.
“We know there is some interest with Republican members,”
Covington said of the Automatic
Retirement Plan Act.
Data varies on the extent of
access and participation rates in
workplace plans. About 66% of
non-union, private sector workers have access to a workplace
retirement savings plan, according to the Labor Depart-
Compliance
Solutions
Weigh the pros and
cons of build vs.
buy. Y12
Small
Business
Lending
Build a program
from the branch
out. Y10
Solar Lending Grows Despite Tariff
resident Trump’s 30%
tariff on imported solar
panels in February added clouds to solar energy’s bright outlook, but lenders
expect homeowners will continue
to seek the glow of utility savings.
“I don’t think anybody is happy
about it,” said Todd Harris, presi-
dent/CEO of Technology Credit
Union of San Jose, Calif. ($2.5 bil-
lion in assets, 95,313 members),
which has been expanding its so-
lar lending.
Despite the tariff, the pipeline
of loan requests is increasing at a
normal pace from
the usual winter
trickle, Harris said.
“It’s too soon to tell
for sure, but there’s
no indication
there’s going to be
a material impact
at this point.”
And the cost of solar panels rep-
resents only a part of the overall
installation cost, typically 30% to
40% for homes.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the
United States had 1.6 million solar electric installations in September 2017 capable of generating 49 gigawatts, or 1.8% of U.S.
electrical demand. This year the
number of installations is expected to reach two million and
four million by 2022, when
LENDING
JIM DUPLESSIS
jduplessis@cutimes.com
Harris
Same-Day
ACH Phase
III Looms
TINA OREM
torem@cutimes.com
n March, credit unions enter the last chapter in the
transition to same-day ACH.
It’s been a long road to this
point, but for now the focus is on
what NACHA – the Electronic Payments Association dubs “phase
III.” Here’s what’s happening, how
pros say you should plan for it —
and whether this is really the end
of the same-day ACH transition.
What’s Happening and When
Starting on March 16, 2018, credit
unions and other financial institutions receiving same-day ACH
payments have to make those
funds available to depositors by 5
p.m. local time.
Credit unions and other financial institutions that originate
same-day ACH payments will
have two more clearing windows
through which to submit same-day ACH payment files: 10:30 a.m.
ET (settlement at 1 p.m.) and 2:45
p.m. ET (settlement at 5 p.m.).
Both credits and debits are eligible for same-day processing,
but international transactions
and transactions over $25,000
are not eligible. NACHA estimated that 99% of current ACH network volume will be eligible for
the new rules. Credit unions and
other financial institutions can get
more details on the NACHA
PAYMENTS
