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NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger yesterday urged President Barack Obama, who gives his State of the Union address Jan. 12, to support and include in his 2016 legislative agenda national data security standards for merchants and regulatory relief for community financial institutions.

"As you prepare to deliver the State of the Union address next week to outline your priorities for this year, we ask that you consider some major issues facing the credit union industry, which provides more than 101 million Americans with safe and reliable financial services," Berger said in a letter to the president. "We also hope that you will recognize and mention in your address the good work that credit unions have done during the economic downturn and recovery in meeting the financial service needs of Americans."

Regarding data security, Berger noted a Gallup poll from October that found for the second consecutive year that 69 percent of U.S. adults are frequently or occasionally concerned about having their credit card information stolen by hackers.

He applauded the Obama administration for its leadership and actions on the cybersecurity front, writing that legislative action is needed to ensure Americans' sensitive financial and personal data are safe. Berger urged Obama to support the "Data Security Act of 2015" (H.R. 2205/S.961).

On regulatory relief, Berger asked Obama to support comprehensive regulatory relief for credit unions on both the legislative and regulatory fronts. Berger attached NAFCU's five-point plan for credit union regulatory relief to his letter and outlined the impact of the current compliance burden, which has been met with a drop of more than 17 percent in the number of credit unions since the second quarter of 2010.

Berger added, "With every additional regulation, credit unions are forced to place more emphasis on compliance and less on providing needed financial services to their members."