Americans are facing a lot of financial uncertainty these days, and helping people take charge of their finances can go a long way when navigating challenges. Credit unions work to improve members’ financial lives and make a positive impact on their communities every day of the year. But, National Financial Capability Month in April provides an opportunity to focus significant attention on those efforts.
Financial capability means setting Americans on the path to financial freedom, understanding and achieving success through education, tailored products, and affordable services. It’s a skill that pays lifetime dividends, and credit unions know investing time and effort into financial education pays off for members time and time again.
Our system of cooperative finance is truly special. Credit unions succeed when their members succeed. We’re on the same team, working together toward the same objective of improving financial capability. And this commitment goes beyond the credit union and member relationship: We see it in the cooperative actions we take as America’s Credit Unions, throughout the League System, and with other system partners and organizations. This means improving financial capability is not just our Association’s mission, it is a system-wide goal.
It all comes down to putting people over profit. At this very moment, credit unions around the country are working to improve financial capability by:
These are just a handful of examples that demonstrate the work credit unions do every day to improve financial outcomes for the communities and populations who need it most.
We know that each and every credit union has countless stories like this, and we need to keep telling them to increase awareness.
Equally as important as this mission is ensuring that credit union members understand and appreciate the credit union difference, the model of cooperative finance, and how they differ from for-profit institutions. A recent consumer survey shows that credit union members trust their institution to increase their financial capability, much more than bank customers. Compared to banks, credit unions are +15 in trust, +11 in positive impact to financial well-being, and +11 in belief that the institution cares about their financial well-being.
The more interactions members have with their credit union, the more they come to see it as a trusted financial partner who puts their best interests first.
Credit union advocacy priorities currently introduced in Congress are similarly focused on enhancing Americans’ financial capability. Important modernizations and regulatory relief would free up time and resources that can be directed to serving members, while additional lending flexibility would inject capital into the market to the people who need it most.
The work credit unions do every day helps Americans’ financial capability and we’re working to enhance that through our unified voice. National Financial Capability Month is a great opportunity for Washington, D.C., to give credit unions more opportunities to change lives for the better.
