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NAFCU responds to unwarranted attack on credit union industry
In response to the banking industry’s recent attack on credit unions, NAFCU Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Greg Mesack Wednesday sent a message to Congress educating lawmakers on accurate facts regarding the credit union industry. Mesack noted that while banks remain focused on earning profits, credit unions are focused on serving their 135 million members and Main Street small businesses.
Additionally, Mesack remarked that while banking groups push Congress to change the credit union tax status, “they fail to disclose that the banking industry received tens of billions of dollars in annual tax breaks from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They also fail to point out that nearly one-third of all banks are Subchapter S corporations and do not pay corporate income taxes themselves.” The response also detailed that credit unions continue to focus on serving rural, low-income, and underserved communities. While the number of banks serving rural and underserved communities has dropped 13 percent in the last decade, credit union branches in those communities has increased by 2.4 percent.
“When the banking groups make attacking credit unions one of their priorities, ask yourself why they are really doing this,” Mesack wrote. “How is this helping address our nation’s underserved areas? The bottom line is that they are trying to limit their competition. Meanwhile, credit unions remain focused on serving their members – consumers and main street small businesses – so that our nation may recover. We encourage the banking groups to keep their focus on the same as well.”
NAFCU will continue to fight back against baseless attacks on the industry and educate Congress on the credit union difference.