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Credit Union Times
APRRIL 8, 2020 | VOL. 31 | NO. 7 | CUTIMES.COM
Must Reads
CU GRANT FUNDING
CDFI Ignored in Stimulus
There’s a federal program that’s
geared toward leveraging private
capital to invest in economically
disadvantaged areas of the United States.
With the global COVID-19 pandemic spurring cyber criminals to ramp up their attacks, the need for CUs to prioritize cybersecurity has intensified. Discover the latest best practices for keeping members’ data safe straight from the experts in this Focus Report. Y6
FOCUSREPORT:
CYBERSECURITY
CUs Give
Small Biz
Owners
Relief
EMERGENCY LENDING
The program sounds like a
natural part of the effort to pump
money into the economy to help
offset the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
JIM DUPLESSIS
jduplessis@cutimes.com
Yet so far, the Community Development Financial Institutions
program has received none of
the stimulus money Congress
has set aside to battle the economic impact of the crisis.
redit unions are
gearing up to help
business members
survive the coronavirus pandemic, reducing the
economic damage to their workers and ultimately to the lenders.
That may be because of one
political reality: The Trump Administration does not like the
program. Since taking office,
Trump Administration budgets
each year have called for the
program to be eliminated. One
year, the administration tried to
rescind money that already had
been appropriated for the CDFI
program.
Loan modifications are the
first and most common step for
most credit unions, most typically involving three months of
deferred payments, followed by
three months of interest-only
payments, according to experts
participating in a recent webinar
sponsored by CU Business Group,
a CUSO based in Portland, Ore.
NEW CREDIT UNIONS
But there’s another political reality: Congress likes the
program.
Charter in Reach for Student-Run CU
They also advised eliminating
fees for modifications.
The CDFI program received
a $12 million boost this year,
which totaled $262 million.
PETER STROZNIAK
“You need to do what you can to
help members get through these
crazy times,” said
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
And according to the Treasury
Department’s own metrics, the
program works.
Buried deep inside the Trump
Administration’s FY21 budget
is an evaluation of the CDFI
program.
Certification criteria require
that all CDFIs originate at least
60% of their loans Y16
magine if the credit union
industry had an army of en-
thusiastic col-
lege students
who thought credit
unions were super
cool. It might be
led by 20-year-old
Sahil Pankhaniya, a
George Washington
University student
who is crazy about the credit union
model and believes there can be
many more like him after students
learn about the movement.
His goal, of course, is to graduate in 2021 with a double major
in finance and statistics. But unlike most college students, he has
another ambitious goal that may
be even more challenging and
daunting: To open a new student-run credit union by May 1.
I’m bought into them 100%,”
Pankhaniya (pronounced pan-khan-nee-ya) said. “I do want
to do something fulfilling with
my career, so definitely [a credit
union career] is on the table.”
Jeff Stone, CU Business Group’s regulatory and compliance expert based
in San Diego.
What’s more, he believes a
lot more college students would
come to the realization that credit
unions are super cool after learning about what makes them different and their mission. To accomplish that exposure on college
campuses, Pankhaniya’s Y17
NCUA data
showed Member
Stone
Pankhaniya
“Credit unions are super cool,
and they have a great mission.
Business Loans
accounted for just
under 3% of total loans in 2004,
and rose steadily even through
the Great Recession to reach 7%
by 2017. Since then they Y18
Secure Data
Management
Learn four best
practices. Y12
Building SMB
Relationships
Leverage community
connections. Y14