National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)Board Members Rodney Hood and Kyle Hauptman addressed more than 4,500 credit union advocates at the Credit Union National Association Governmental Affairs Conference (CUNA GAC) Tuesday morning, thanking credit unions for the past year they have had.
Board member Rodney Hood said he’s seeing reassuring trends in credit unions, even through the pandemic.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen that credit unions have added more than 7 million members, and loan growth has been strong while delinquency rates remain manageable,” he said.
He also said he hopes NCUA will look to provide further opportunities for innovation and urged credit unions to explore those as well.
“I want to see credit unions approach fintech with a sense of purpose and clarity. Let’s be open to innovation and experimentation, but always with the primary commitments being of service to your members, ensuring the performance of your institutions, and protecting the safety and soundness of the broader system of cooperative credit,” Hood added.
NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman thanked credit unions for their performance over the last two years to get through a situation “definitely not in the manual.”
Hauptman said he aims to have NCUA also evolve with the times to provide quality service, despite being saddled with a problem that affects many government agencies.
“We’re basically a monopoly provider of our services, and monopolies often wind up producing mediocre products at high prices,” he said. “By implementing normal, modern customer feedback and transparency, the agency you pay for ought to be an improved regulatory experience. So, we know that NCUA has to modernize as well," Hauptman said.
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