D.C. is hard at work on ways to make life more affordable to Americans, especially important with 435 House and 35 Senate seats on the ballot this November. Looking at the latest data, credit unions can and should be part of any policy solution.
America’s Credit Unions’ latest analysis shows that 2025 was a record year for credit union benefits to consumers, a trend that policymakers have the ability to not only continue, but increase.
Credit unions delivered a total of $41.5 billion in economic benefits to consumers in 2025, the highest number recorded. This is nearly 17 times the estimated “cost” of the credit union tax status and includes $29.9 billion direct financial benefits to members:
- $13.1 billion in higher savings rates.
- $15.3 billion through lower loan rates.
- $1.5 billion via lower fees.
Credit unions’ impact isn’t limited to the members and communities they serve directly. Non-credit union members received $11.7 billion in benefits last year, simply because credit unions put competitive pressure on the market.
Translated into the larger economy, credit unions make a $352 billion contribution to overall GDP and support 1.3 million jobs.
These are numbers worth fighting for to maintain, and the League system is fighting to increase.
Congress is in the midst of the FY27 appropriations process and an opportunity to continue investing in underserved communities. Maintaining or increasing funding for the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) is a bipartisan, proven way to maximize impact of federal dollars.
Every grant dollar to a credit union is turned into $12 in private investment, a 1,200% return on investment.
It’s been a constant battle in recent years to ensure continued funding at levels that serve these members and communities. We’ve seen the fund zeroed out or reduced in initial proposals. But at the end of the day, Congress has delivered full funding, with bipartisan support, year after year because the impact of the CDFI Fund is undeniable.
Now is not the time to short-change these communities. The circumstances that create this need for these funds will persist well into the next fiscal year. As such, the CDFI Fund should receive no less than the FY26 amount of $324 million in FY27.
We’ve also seen increased efforts from the Treasury Department to add more requirements and comprehensive reviews of certified CDFIs in an attempt to ensure compliance with the fund’s mission and directives.
As highly regulated, not-for-profit cooperatives, credit unions work to uplift their communities through financial empowerment and investment opportunities. They do not engage in predatory lending and work to protect their members from such practices. CDFI funds enable certified credit unions to do just that.
Beyond appropriations, modernizing reporting thresholds, providing regulatory relief, and adding more business lending flexibility are just a few of the ways this Congress can act to get more capital to those who need it.
Affordability can and should be a bipartisan issue. Near-term and long-term, in the big picture and in this current moment, credit unions are poised to do even more for communities.
Deploying the “people helping people” principle into financial services has benefitted generations of Americans, and policymakers should give cooperative finance a chance to make a bigger impact.
