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Banking trades say credit unions win if they embrace a proposed extension of the transaction account guarantee that's set to expire Dec. 31 – even if it passes with no new member business lending authority attached – but their argument belies the numbers.

Credit unions have parity under the current, 100 percent guarantee of noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, but the percentage of those accounts with balances exceeding the standard $250,000 deposit and share insurance guarantee is many times higher at banks than at credit unions.

Third-quarter call report data show that at insured credit unions, noninterest-bearing transaction accounts equaled 0.28 percent of credit unions assets. By contrast, such accounts made up 11.9 percent of total assets in banks.

NAFCU is continuing to urge that the Senate pass legislation that includes both an extension of TAG and an increase in credit unions' MBL authority. "Passing both MBL and TAG together is a win-win for credit unions, community banks, small businesses and the nation's economy," said Brad Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs.