Year-End Purchase Activity Among Credit Union Members Shows Robust Growth, According to Study by

CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent Technologies

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., and FRANKLIN, Mass. (January 17, 2012) – Shoppers who belong to credit unions spent 15% more and made 15% more transactions during the peak holiday shopping season in 2011 than in 2010, according to an analysis by CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent Technologies, a provider of payment intelligence solutions.

“This month-long holiday spending surge among credit union members is even higher than Black Friday sales growth among the same group, which we found grew 8.1% year over year,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. “This robust sales activity mirrors the powerful momentum of the credit union movement overall.”

The holiday sales analysis is based on more than 71.9 million transactions representing $2.8 billion in spending made between November 25 and December 25, 2011. Drawn from debit card transactions across 563 credit unions processed by CO-OP Financial Services, the year-over-year comparison was performed through an advanced analytics solution, CO-OP Total Revelation™, powered by Saylent Technologies, and was conducted by Saylent’s Insight360™ consulting team.

“Our analysis revealed a remarkable 10% increase in the number of debit cards in use during the holiday season, the result of a burgeoning consumer interest in credit unions,” said Tyson Nargassans, President and CEO of Saylent Technologies. “The CO-OP Total Revelation solution provides detailed payment intelligence that helps card issuers uncover hidden opportunities and insights to better serve their expanding roster of members.”

The analysis spanned 30 days of spending activity among the credit union members both at brick-and-mortar establishments and on the Internet. Some of the key highlights:

• ’Tis the season for politics: The end of 2011 saw a spike in political contributions, up 513% over the same time last year, as the U.S. Presidential campaign season went into full swing.
• Holiday cheer: Tavern and alcoholic beverage purveyors toasted the end of the year with a 48% increase in sales.
• A season of giving: Contributions to charitable and social service organizations were up 38% year over year.
• Stocking up: Buying clubs and shopping services bulked up with a 125% sales increase.
• Popular gifts:  Among the merchandise categories showing strongest gains were leather goods (up 42%), records and CDs (up 42%), flowers and nursery stock (up 40%), bicycles (up 22%), computer software (up 21%), books (up 21%), candy and nuts (up 18%), and pets (up 17%).

For more information on CO-OP Total Revelation, visit www.co-opfs.org.

About Saylent Technologies, Inc.

Saylent Technologies, based in Franklin, Mass., develops payment intelligence solutions that help organizations understand and capitalize on payment behaviors. Employing innovative analytics and segmentation techniques, Saylent’s Card360™ solution identifies card usage patterns by cardholder, targets underperforming or at-risk segments, and enables corresponding marketing programs and metrics. Saylent’s Account360™ solution provides a holistic perspective on customers across all payment types, enabling financial institutions to understand and shift customer behaviors and increase share-of-wallet. Saylent’s Insight360™ consulting services help clients speed time to value with expert analysis and customized marketing services. For more information, please visit www.saylent.com or call (508) 570-2161.

About CO-OP Financial Services

Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and founded in 1981, CO-OP Financial Services is the industry leader in access and convenience products for credit unions. CO-OP Financial Services connects credit union members to their accounts through network, payment processing, e-commerce, shared branching and call center services. With more than 3,000 credit union members, 30 million cardholders, 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs, 4,400 shared branch locations and more than two billion annual transactions, CO-OP Financial Services offers the tools, counsel and leadership to help credit unions prosper. To learn more, visit www.co-opfs.org.

 
Contact: Bill Prichard, Public Relations Manager, CO-OP Financial Services, 800.782.9042, ext. 3450, Bill.Prichard@co-opfs.org

Contact: Catherine Marenghi, Vice President, Strategy and Communications, Saylent Technologies, 781-715-7310, cmarenghi@saylent.com

December 14, 2011

Activity of Credit Union Members Surpasses Nationwide Averages,

According to Study by CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent Technologies 

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., and FRANKLIN, Mass. (December 13, 2011) – Shoppers who belong to credit unions spent 8.1% more and made 10.1% more transactions during Black Friday in 2011 than in 2010, according to an analysis by CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent Technologies, a provider of payment intelligence solutions.

“These remarkable sales growth figures from the credit union community surpass nationally reported averages for Black Friday sales growth overall,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. “Some of the top credit unions in CO-OP Network experienced even stronger Black Friday sales growth of 30% and more.”

The unique analysis of Black Friday sales is not an estimate, but is based on more than 2.6 million actual transactions made between Thanksgiving midnight and midnight the following day. Drawn from debit card transactions across 562 credit unions processed by CO-OP Financial Services, the year-over-year comparison was performed through an advanced analytics solution, CO-OP Total Revelation, powered by Saylent Technologies, and was conducted by Saylent’s Insight360 consulting team.

The group’s total Black Friday spend represented both brick-and-mortar establishments and Internet transactions. Some of the key findings:

• Appetizing restaurant sales: The survey served up good news for eateries. Credit union members rang up 13% more at restaurants and 14% more at fast food establishments on Black Friday 2011 compared with 2010.
• A season of giving: Charitable and social service organizations and fundraising chalked up generous 48% gains year over year.
• Dressing up: Men’s and women’s clothing stores tucked in 21% sales growth, while miscellaneous apparel and accessories were up 18%.
• Wired for giving: Consumer electronics, a popular gift category, captured 15% sales growth. 
• Educated shoppers: Books, periodicals and newspapers were making headlines with 95% gains.
• Home for the holidays: Spending on used vehicles (up 70%), recreational campers, trailers and supplies (up 161%), and auto parts (up 16.5%) suggested a surge of automotive travel.  Gas pumps saw 26% gains, highway tolls rose 42%, and holiday travelers arrived in clean vehicles, with car washes up 64%.
• Luxury losing its luster: High-end commodities like precious stones and metals dropped 26% in year-over-year sales.

“Credit union members are savvy consumers, and this analysis shows they are enthusiastically using debit cards to make responsible holiday purchases, using money in their accounts rather than taking on credit card debt,” said Tyson Nargassans, President and CEO of Saylent Technologies. “We are pleased to support CO-OP with solutions and services that help both CO-OP and its participating credit unions gain greater insights on their members.”

For more information on CO-OP Total Revelation, visit www.co-opfs.org.

About Saylent Technologies, Inc.

Saylent Technologies, based in Franklin, Mass., develops payment intelligence solutions that help organizations understand and capitalize on payment behaviors. Employing innovative analytics and segmentation techniques, Saylent’s Card360 solution identifies card usage patterns by cardholder, targets underperforming or at-risk segments, and enables corresponding marketing programs and metrics. Saylent’s Account360 solution provides a holistic perspective on customers across all payment types, enabling financial institutions to understand and shift customer behaviors and increase share-of-wallet. Saylent’s Insight360 consulting services help clients speed time to value with expert analysis and customized marketing services. For more information, please visit www.saylent.com or call (508) 570-2161.

About CO-OP Financial Services

Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. and founded in 1981, CO-OP Financial Services is the industry leader in access and convenience products for credit unions. CO-OP Financial Services connects credit union members to their accounts through network, payment processing, e-commerce, shared branching and call center services. With more than 3,000 credit union members, 30 million cardholders, 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs, 4,400 shared branch locations and more than two billion annual transactions, CO-OP Financial Services offers the tools, counsel and leadership to help credit unions prosper. To learn more, visit www.co-opfs.org.

Contact: Bill Prichard, Public Relations Manager, CO-OP Financial Services, 800.782.9042, ext. 3450, Bill.Prichard@co-opfs.org          

Contact: Catherine Marenghi, Vice President, Strategy and Communications, Saylent Technologies, 781-715-7310, cmarenghi@saylent.com

By David Morrison

From the December 14, 2011 issue of Credit Union Times Magazine

Bank of America made official last week what many anticipated when a spokesperson acknowledged that it will no longer issue credit cards in agent relationships with credit unions and smaller banks.

During the height of the CU card sale market, from 2004 to 2007, Bank of America’s card-issuing arm, FIA Card Services, and its predecessor, MBNA, dominated the market for CU-issued credit cards.

MBNA was a monoline bank that only issued credit cards. Bank of America purchased the bank in 2005 and subsequently launched FIA Card Services to handle its agent business.

Typically, FIA Card Services has purchased credit card portfolios from credit unions or smaller banks and then continued to issue the cards in the credit unions’ or banks’ names, often in five-year contracts.

But sources in the card industry said the bank has concluded that the agent card-issuing business is no longer imperative to its core operations and has decided to discontinue it.

Credit unions that currently issue cards with Bank of America have also been told that their contracts will not be renewed after they expire.

Card industry sources estimate that the move will leave between 40 and 50 credit unions around the country with the need to either find another agent issuer or to start reissuing cards themselves.

For its part, the bank explained that it had come to find agent issuing unsatisfactory because it inherently limited the bank to only the credit card business with cardholders.

In a statement about its strategic shift, the bank appeared to allude to this conflict.

“In many cases, our agent-bank business has serviced predominantly single-service card customers with limited opportunity for Bank of America to do more business with them,” the statement said.

Traditionally, Bank of America, like other agent issuers of CU-branded credit cards, has agreed not to cross sell credit union cardholders other banking products and services, and the bank decided that those cross-selling opportunities were those that made the business worthwhile.

“We decided earlier this year that the agent-bank relationship, where we issue cards on behalf of other financial institutions, was not core to our goal of building deeper relationships and we began the process of exiting those relationships,” wrote Bank of America spokesperson Betty Riess in an email.

Earlier this month the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) reported positive growth and development information that points directly to the health and vitality of the country’s credit unions.

Overall nearly every key indicator of credit union growth increased or held steady over third quarter 2011, according to the Call Report which retrieves data from approximately 7,179 federally insured credit unions.

Debbie Matz, NCUA Board Chairman said, “In the third quarter, credit union financials continued to move in the right direction. Membership, assets, and net worth all rose, and I am especially pleased that the net worth ratio inched upward to 10.15%. While credit union deposits and loans both increased during the quarter, deposits grew at a faster pace. As a result, the loan-to-share ratio dropped slightly. Net income growth also slowed. However, net income during the first nine months of 2011 has already exceeded net income for all of 2010.”

Report Highlights

In each category, evidence of the powerful credit union movement was apparent:

• Membership increased by nearly 1 million during the first nine months of 2011, adding more than 450,000 new members in third quarter alone. Today 91.4 million consumers do business with a credit union.
• Asset growth rose increasing by $8.7 billion in third quarter, holding at $951.1 billion on September 30.
• Net worth ratio grew minimally, rising 1 basis point during third quarter, going from 10.14% to 10.15%.
• Return on Assets Ratio fell slightly at 66 basis points today, down from 77 basis points during the second quarter. The report pointed out that despite the decline, the current ROA is still 15 basis points higher today as compared to year-end in 2010.
• Shares are on the rise. Checking, savings and money market shares contributed to a $7 billion increase in third quarter, now standing at $819.2 billion on September 30. Share certificates and non-member deposits dropped slightly.
• Lending showed a mixed bag but increased $3.1 billion in third quarter holding at $567.1 billion today. Declines were reported with new auto loans, and various real estate loans, however credit cards, used vehicle loans, unsecured loans and first mortgages experienced a lift. Non-federally guaranteed student loan demand increased 20.5% during third quarter, standing at $1.3 billion by September 30.
• Delinquencies increased only slightly during third quarter, a boost by 1 basis point. Net charge offs dropped again, decreasing by 4 basis points from June 30 to 0.91% at the end of third quarter.
• Bankruptcies also decreased during third quarter, dropping 26.7% as compared to second quarter. Credit unions reported that 56,572 members filed for bankruptcy during third quarter and the percentage of loans charged off due to bankruptcy dropped by 14 basis points to stand at 23.95% of all loans charged off.

Credit Unions Report Membership and Asset Growth Strong Across the Board

Across the country, credit unions report somewhat similar growth statistics. Frank Nelson, CEO of 1st Financial Federal Credit Union ($210 million, Wentzville, MO) describes substantial membership growth statistics. “Our membership has grown by 11.1% in 2011, and 6.6% in the 3nd quarter alone.”

Donna LoStocco, Vice President Member Experience at Affinity Federal Credit Union ($2 billion, Basking Ridge, NJ) reports that her credit union added 2,690 new members; 8,183 members were added in the first nine months of 2011.

According to Glenn Kirk, EVP of Marketing & Business Development at Summit Credit Union ($130.5 million, Greensboro, NC), the big membership boon coincided with Bank Transfer Day.

“Membership has grown by roughly 5% from January 1 through November,” Kirk explains. “We typically see an increase of 50 to 100 net members each month, but saw a member growth spike during October and November of roughly 800 net new members (total of both months). This came at the time when the banks were announcing their debit card fees. We expect that trend to continue because our members who still have bank accounts tell us that they are now uneasy and expecting bank fees to start early next year.”

Assets have also been a strong point for most credit unions. Kirk says that Summit’s have increased by 8.2% and totaled $130.5 million at the end of November. “We will have another jump of roughly $4 million in December due to the merger of another credit union.”

LoStocco says that Affinity has also increased assets by 0.97% in the third quarter 2011. Nelson reports a 2.02% growth this year as well.

Credit Unions Have No Problem Balancing Shares with Loans

Nelson explains that while shares have increased slightly, it’s more about providing exceptional value for all members’ financial needs. “Shares have increased at a slightly faster pace than loans. 2.18% versus 1.62% respectively,” he says. “We have made a conscious effort to provide a great overall value to our members, whether they are borrowers or savers. I think that these growth figures demonstrate that people in our community are finding 1st Financial to be a better value than our competitors.”

LoStocco states that Affinity’s share to loan balance has been consistent. “Our third quarter share growth was 1.11%, about the same as Affinity’s loan growth for the same period (not including loan sales). The majority of our share growth was within our checking products.”

LoStocco adds that Affinity grew in all areas (net worth, assets, shares, investments and loans.) “Total Checking balances increased 7.1% for the quarter or $21.1 million.”

Kirk also reports balanced increases on both sides. “Not a significant difference,” he says. “Through November our deposits have increased by $8.6 million, or 7.89% ($117.5 million); compared to loans which have increased by $7.5 million, or 8.01% ($101.1 million). Our loan to share ratio has increased from 85.9% to 86.1%.”

To some this may not seem like a significant increase, but we are definitely bucking the industry trend by increasing outstanding loans,” Kirk continues. “We have done this primarily in auto loans and mortgages, both showing roughly a $4 million increase since January 1.” 

Earlier this month the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) reported positive growth and development information that points directly to the health and vitality of the country’s credit unions.

Overall nearly every key indicator of credit union growth increased or held steady over third quarter 2011, according to the Call Report which retrieves data from approximately 7,179 federally insured credit unions.

Debbie Matz, NCUA Board Chairman said, “In the third quarter, credit union financials continued to move in the right direction. Membership, assets, and net worth all rose, and I am especially pleased that the net worth ratio inched upward to 10.15%. While credit union deposits and loans both increased during the quarter, deposits grew at a faster pace. As a result, the loan-to-share ratio dropped slightly. Net income growth also slowed. However, net income during the first nine months of 2011 has already exceeded net income for all of 2010.”

Report Highlights

In each category, evidence of the powerful credit union movement was apparent:

• Membership increased by nearly 1 million during the first nine months of 2011, adding more than 450,000 new members in third quarter alone. Today 91.4 million consumers do business with a credit union.
• Asset growth rose increasing by $8.7 billion in third quarter, holding at $951.1 billion on September 30.
• Net worth ratio grew minimally, rising 1 basis point during third quarter, going from 10.14% to 10.15%.
• Return on Assets Ratio fell slightly at 66 basis points today, down from 77 basis points during the second quarter. The report pointed out that despite the decline, the current ROA is still 15 basis points higher today as compared to year-end in 2010.
• Shares are on the rise. Checking, savings and money market shares contributed to a $7 billion increase in third quarter, now standing at $819.2 billion on September 30. Share certificates and non-member deposits dropped slightly.
• Lending showed a mixed bag but increased $3.1 billion in third quarter holding at $567.1 billion today. Declines were reported with new auto loans, and various real estate loans, however credit cards, used vehicle loans, unsecured loans and first mortgages experienced a lift. Non-federally guaranteed student loan demand increased 20.5% during third quarter, standing at $1.3 billion by September 30.
• Delinquencies increased only slightly during third quarter, a boost by 1 basis point. Net charge offs dropped again, decreasing by 4 basis points from June 30 to 0.91% at the end of third quarter.
• Bankruptcies also decreased during third quarter, dropping 26.7% as compared to second quarter. Credit unions reported that 56,572 members filed for bankruptcy during third quarter and the percentage of loans charged off due to bankruptcy dropped by 14 basis points to stand at 23.95% of all loans charged off.

Credit Unions Report Membership and Asset Growth Strong Across the Board

Across the country, credit unions report somewhat similar growth statistics. Frank Nelson, CEO of 1st Financial Federal Credit Union ($210 million, Wentzville, MO) describes substantial membership growth statistics. “Our membership has grown by 11.1% in 2011, and 6.6% in the 3nd quarter alone.”

Donna LoStocco, Vice President Member Experience at Affinity Federal Credit Union ($2 billion, Basking Ridge, NJ) reports that her credit union added 2,690 new members; 8,183 members were added in the first nine months of 2011.

According to Glenn Kirk, EVP of Marketing & Business Development at Summit Credit Union ($130.5 million, Greensboro, NC), the big membership boon coincided with Bank Transfer Day.

“Membership has grown by roughly 5% from January 1 through November,” Kirk explains. “We typically see an increase of 50 to 100 net members each month, but saw a member growth spike during October and November of roughly 800 net new members (total of both months). This came at the time when the banks were announcing their debit card fees. We expect that trend to continue because our members who still have bank accounts tell us that they are now uneasy and expecting bank fees to start early next year.”

Assets have also been a strong point for most credit unions. Kirk says that Summit’s have increased by 8.2% and totaled $130.5 million at the end of November. “We will have another jump of roughly $4 million in December due to the merger of another credit union.”

LoStocco says that Affinity has also increased assets by 0.97% in the third quarter 2011. Nelson reports a 2.02% growth this year as well.

Credit Unions Have No Problem Balancing Shares with Loans

Nelson explains that while shares have increased slightly, it’s more about providing exceptional value for all members’ financial needs. “Shares have increased at a slightly faster pace than loans. 2.18% versus 1.62% respectively,” he says. “We have made a conscious effort to provide a great overall value to our members, whether they are borrowers or savers. I think that these growth figures demonstrate that people in our community are finding 1st Financial to be a better value than our competitors.”

LoStocco states that Affinity’s share to loan balance has been consistent. “Our third quarter share growth was 1.11%, about the same as Affinity’s loan growth for the same period (not including loan sales). The majority of our share growth was within our checking products.”

LoStocco adds that Affinity grew in all areas (net worth, assets, shares, investments and loans.) “Total Checking balances increased 7.1% for the quarter or $21.1 million.”

Kirk also reports balanced increases on both sides. “Not a significant difference,” he says. “Through November our deposits have increased by $8.6 million, or 7.89% ($117.5 million); compared to loans which have increased by $7.5 million, or 8.01% ($101.1 million). Our loan to share ratio has increased from 85.9% to 86.1%.”

To some this may not seem like a significant increase, but we are definitely bucking the industry trend by increasing outstanding loans,” Kirk continues. “We have done this primarily in auto loans and mortgages, both showing roughly a $4 million increase since January 1.”

It’s safe to say credit unions have more than their share of happy members.

In a year in which big banks got hammered over new fees, customer satisfaction among their rival credit unions jumped to a record high, according to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released today.

Credit union satisfaction scores jumped 7 points to 87 out of 100, the highest ever reached by any of the 47 industries tracked by the index in the past 17 years. Over this past year alone, credit unions tripled their lead over banks, a category where overall satisfaction fell 1 point to a score of 75.

While there are nearly 100 million credit union members nationwide, the number of people who have some relationship with a bank is much broader. Even many who rely on a credit union for checking or a car loan still turn to banks for mortgages, credit cards and other services.

ACSI founder Claes Fornell said the data suggest credit unions and smaller banks have become “an even more attractive alternative” to big banks at a time consumers are fighting both fees and foreclosures.

All isn’t equal among the megabanks, however. Satisfaction among customers of JPMor­gan Chase and Wells Fargo rose 4.5 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, though still finishing far below credit union status.

Bank of America stayed flat from last year at a rating of 68, solidifying its status in the cellar among the megabanks.

Bank of America, which received $45 billion in federal bailout funds, has been battling poor public perception for a while. In a separate survey, J.D. Power and Associates earlier ranked Bank of America lowest in a 24-bank survey of small-business customer satisfaction.

Asked about efforts to improve customer relations, Bank of America spokeswoman Christina Beyer Toth said the bank is continuing to build on the quality of its service “to give customers more reasons to bank with us.”

“We’ve made good progress by introducing new tools, processes and conducting more training for our associates than ever before,” she said in a statement, “but we have much more to do to continue to provide a superior experience to our customers.”

ACSI surveys about 70,000 customers a year to gauge their satisfaction. In other categories released by the index Tuesday:

• Property and casualty insurers improved their satisfaction index to an all-time high of 83, with the smaller insurers getting the strongest feedback. Among the big players, State Farm scored highest with an 82 and Allstate was lowest at 78.

• Health insurance was on the low end of the satisfaction spectrum, with the average score falling to 72. Fornell said customers are disgruntled as premiums rose 9 percent while wages have been stagnant. Among large insurers, WellPoint scored highest (74) and Aetna was lowest (67).

• Life insurance ratings overall were stable with a score of 80. Among the big companies in the market, Northwestern Mutual was tops at 81 and MetLife was lowest with a score of 77.

Jeff Harrington can be reached at jharrington@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8242.

In music, a “coda” is “a passage at the end of a composition that brings it to a formal close.” For those of us who have been wrestling with the debit interchange issue for more than a year, the following is our coda on the issue—at least, for now.

On June 29, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors adopted its debit interchange final rule, described (by some) as “surprising” and by others as “infuriating.”

We were surprised the Federal Reserve’s final rule treated small issuers such as credit unions much better than its proposed rule. It includes provisions intended to reinforce the small-issuer exemption—which applies to credit unions and banks with less than $10 billion in assets—from the fee-setting, circumvention, and evasion aspects of the final rule.

And it gives more room on an interchange fee cap: 21 cents per transaction versus 12 cents, plus five basis points for every transaction and the hope of an additional penny (after a comment period) to cover costs related to fraud.

Still, that’s not enough to cover credit union costs; if “two-tiered” networks aren’t set up—or if they are but fail to work—credit union revenues will fall short. Member fees may be unavoidable as credit unions strive to maintain efficient debit card programs.

Despite that, the Fed offered up a final rule that was, on balance, less egregious than the proposal. With that, we learned some valuable lessons:

• The Fed listens. Retailers, who were “enraged” by the Fed’s final rule (according to some press accounts), claimed the banks hijacked the Fed.

But that view misses a crucial point: The rule-writing process is designed to gather opinion, including advocacy, about the impact of regulations.

The process worked, fueled by more than 11,000 letters—more than half from credit unions alone. Call it “lobbying pressure”—but the Fed sought comments and credit unions answered.

• Credit unions impress with grassroots. Several reporters told us they were impressed with the half million contacts in support of legislation by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to “stop, study, and start over.”

And so were the retailers, our adversaries in this fight. “I represent an industry that’s on every street corner in America,” said a longtime retailer lobbyist. “But when I saw what the credit unions were able to do [with grassroots mobilization], it inspired me to take our industry to the next level.”

• Grassroots gets results: A senator’s chief of staff shared with us that credit unions were the reason his boss changed his 2010 vote to support Sen. Tester’s “stop, study” bill in 2011.

Credit unions generated more than 500,000 contacts with Con-gress in support of Sen. Tester during a three-month period. This pressure convinced 12 senators to change their votes, resulting in 54 senators ultimately supporting our position.

It wasn’t enough to get us beyond the 60-vote threshold Senate rules require (even though that represented a majority of the Senate). But we convinced a majority of senators, and that impressed the Fed.

• We must be ready to do it again—only better. Issues such as member business loans, capital reform, and protecting our tax exemption will need our collective strength and voices.

And the key to doing that is a continuing, strong relationship among credit unions, the leagues, and CUNA. Without that, there’s simply no way we could have achieved the results we did.

The next set of challenges requires us to build on what was done on the interchange issue, so that every member of Congress hears and listens to us.

No, we didn’t get everything we wanted on interchange; no fee cap at all would be our preference.

But Congress has spoken, and the rules—which could have been worse—are finalized.

Together, we played a clear and determinative role in that result.

BILL CHENEY is CUNA’s president/CEO