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Credit Union Times
MAY 16, 2018 | VOL. 29 | NO. 17 | CUTIMES.COM
FOCUSREPORT:
RETAIL
DELIVERY &
FRONTLINE
TECHNOLOGY
The use of biometrics as a tool for
authenticating both members and
employees in credit union branches
and offices is growing. Learn how the
CU industry is utilizing this secure,
convenient technology in this Focus
Report. Y6
PAYMENTS
Prep for RTP Adoption
A strong payment infrastructure provides essential plumbing to carry the financial flows
of businesses. For most companies, payments move via an orderly process that has followed
the same slow, steady schedule
for decades. But today, for the
first time in 40 years, organization treasury departments have a
new option: Real-time payments
(RTP). Companies can now add a
new pipe to their plumbing to accommodate funds transfers that
move at unprecedented speeds.
The idea sounds compelling, but changing a core system that’s already working well
can be frightening. At first sight,
RTP may seem like an intimidating, costly investment that offers
only amorphous benefits. A cost-conscious organization’s treasury department rarely sets aside
large budgets for innovation in
accounts payable and accounts
receivable systems.
The most successful RTP
adoptions are those that are
carefully designed to fit an organization’s unique and specific needs, ultimately making
their treasury teams integral to
the company’s strong relationships with clients and business
partners. At the end of the day,
a successful payment ecosystem
is one that mixes and matches
payment methods so that each
payment utilizes the settlement
method that is best for both the
buyer and the seller.
Y16
Target Market
Strategy
Learn what
differentiates
consumers. Y12
Cardless
ATM Benefits
Innovate while
preventing
fraud. Y8
CUs: Return Postal Banking to Sender
ow do you provide
access to financial
services for millions
of unbanked people?
By allowing post offices to become banks, of course.
Every couple of years, the idea
of postal service banking bubbles
up to the surface as a way to pro-
vide banking services to those
people without easy access to
financial services.
And when it’s proposed, credit
union trade groups ask: Why do
you need to put banks in post offices, when we’d be wiling to provide those services if Congress
just allowed us to?
This year, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced
legislation that would establish a
retail bank in every post office.
“For millions of families who
have no access or limited access
to a traditional bank, the simple
act of cashing a paycheck or tak-
ing out a small loan to fix a car or
pay the gas bill can end up cost-
ing thousands of dollars in inter-
est and fees that are nearly im-
possible to pay off,” Gillibrand
said, as she introduced S. 2755 on
April 26.
The bill would provide consumer banking services, in particular small-dollar loans to post office customers, in an effort to end
predatory loans offered by payday
lenders.
LENDING
DAVID BAUMANN
dbaumann@cutimes.com
Y17
Taxes
Coming for
CU Exec
Pay
MANAGEMENT
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
or the first time ever,
credit unions will pay
federal taxes.
Starting in 2019, credit unions, including the national
industry organizations, leagues
and associations, will be required
to pay a 21% excise tax on the
amount of executive compensation that exceeds $1 million.
“A lot of folks looked at that and
said, ‘Well, that’s not a big deal for
credit unions because most credit
unions don’t have executives that
make over $1 million,’” Dennis
While that may
be true, what many
credit unions may
not realize is that
the 21% excise tax
will impact many more executives
who make well under $1 million
because of lump-sum parachute
or severance payments as a result of mergers or other circumstances. The new tax also applies
to deferred compensation plans
when they become vested, Dollar explained during a webinar he
sponsored earlier this year Y18
Dollar
