Current Issues in Credit Unions #32

Special Guest Morriss Partee joins Faith, Brian, Hal and Rob on our last show for 2008.  Here are the topics:

--New credit card rules.

--Final CUSO changes.

--CUs in the U.S. turned 100 years old one month ago. Are they as relevant today as they were when they were founded just after the turn of the previous century? 90 million Americans belong to a CU, which is approx. 45% of the economically active population. Is the glass half full or half empty? (And they hold only about 6% of total FI assets.) There were 23,000 CUs at their peak in the 1970s. At the turn of the millennium, we were at about 11,000. Now we're down to 8000. What exactly has it been that has caused CUs to be as successful as they have been in their first hundred years? Is it the low rates? The common bond? Or is each CU unique in what makes it successful? Are credit union mergers accelerating or decelerating, and where does it all end? Should we just throw in the towel right now and create one giant credit union that services the entire nation?

--Given these newfound tough economic times, what should CUs be doing to effectively get their message out?

--How can CUs get involved with the new online social networking and social media tools to get the word out?

--Many people are calling for CUs to develop some sort of national branding program. Is that the magic bullet that's missing from having greater numbers of people joining and fully utilizing credit union services, or would that be a huge waste of time and money?

--Compliance advisors:  when should a CU use a non-lawyer versus a lawyer?

--CiiCU in 2009 meta. (suggestions for guests, format etc.)

The CIiCU hosts are:

Brian Witt
Member
Farleigh Wada Witt,
Attorneys at Law
121 SW Morrison Street, Suite 600
Portland, Oregon 97204
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://www.fwwlaw.com

Guy Messick
Member
Messick & Weber P.C.
The Madison Building, 108 Chesley Drive
Media, Pennsylvania 19063-1712
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://www.cusolaw.com

Faith Anderson
American Airlines Credit Union
P.O. Box 619001
MD 2100
DFW Airport, TX
75261-9001
[phone]
https://www.aacreditunion.org/default.asp

Robert Rutkowski
Shareholder
Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A.
323 W. Lakeside Avenue, Suite 200
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://www.thatcreditunionblog.com
http://www.weltman.com

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