WASHINGTON, DC (April 30, 2026) |
This week, the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), through its Defending Credit Unions National Advocacy Fund, launched of a targeted advocacy campaign during the ICBA Washington Summit.
The effort included a geofenced digital advertising project and strategically-routed mobile billboard to ensure policymakers and industry leaders receive accurate information regarding the credit union charter, tax status, and the value credit unions provide to American consumers and communities.
The campaign features two key messages: one focused on preserving the credit union federal tax status and another addressing the facts surrounding bank-credit union acquisitions. Both initiatives direct audiences to educational resources hosted by DCUC.
“While some continue to recycle misleading narratives about credit unions, DCUC is committed to ensuring lawmakers and stakeholders hear the facts,” says Anthony Hernandez, DCUC President/CEO, Ret. USAF Colonel. “Credit unions are member-owned, not-for-profit cooperatives that exist to serve people, not outside shareholders, and their tax status reflects that mission established by Congress.”
In an op-ed published by CUToday ahead of the ICBA Summit, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak wrote:
“None of this means credit unions are beyond scrutiny. They are not, and they should not be. If there are governance failures, transaction-specific concerns, or areas where oversight can be sharpened, then sharpen it. But targeted oversight is very different from a broad political campaign built on mistruths about the entire charter. So here is my message ahead of the ICBA Washington Summit: credit unions are not the enemy of community banking, and the communities we both serve are not helped by misinformation. We can disagree on policy without spreading falsehoods. We can advocate for our institutions without smearing the cooperative model. And ICBA can choose a better path. It can join us in defending community access to affordable financial services, in supporting servicemembers and veterans, and in building stronger local economies. It can leave the petty attacks behind and join us in the real work.”
DCUC notes that federally insured credit unions now serve more than 144 million members nationwide and continue delivering measurable consumer value through competitive loan rates, stronger savings returns, and financial access in underserved communities.
DCUC continues to remind that acquisitions involving community banks selling to credit unions occur through a regulated, transparent approval process involving federal agencies and safety and-soundness reviews.
“Attempts to broadly attack the credit union charter through misinformation do nothing to help consumers or local economies,” said Stverak.
DCUC’s campaign reaffirmed that debates over policy should be grounded in facts, not rhetoric, and that any discussions regarding oversight or specific transactions should be targeted and evidence-based rather than used to justify sweeping penalties on the entire cooperative financial model.
As policymakers gather in Washington this week, DCUC urged leaders to prioritize community access to affordable financial services, consumer choice, and fair competition across the entire financial services marketplace.