Press

NAFCU to CFPB: Collaborate with NCUA, others to improve financial education programs

WASHINGTON, DC (July 10, 2018) — National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) Senior Regulatory Affairs Counsel Ann Kossachev sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offering ways for the Bureau to improve its education programs to strengthen consumers’ financial literacy. The letter is in response to the agency’s request for information on its financial education initiatives.

“Credit unions are deeply invested in the financial well-being of their communities and, therefore, provide the best avenue to disseminate financial education resources,” wrote Kossachev. “NAFCU encourages the Bureau to establish a strong, sustainable partnership with credit unions to distribute its financial education resources … Local outreach and efforts are most likely to make a meaningful impact and begin to effectuate improvements in Americans’ financial health.”

Kossachev highlighted a recent Economic & CU Monitor survey that found 94 percent of respondents’ credit unions offered some form of financial literacy programming, and several also had innovative methods to promote greater fiscal responsibility.

In addition to working with the NCUA and credit unions more closely, Kossachev recommended that the bureau:

consider including legal disclaimers on more of its guides and webpages;
expand its resources covering payday loans and saving for retirement;
leverage video resources more effectively by directly linking to all relevant videos on its money topic pages;
conduct in-person meetings on financial education topics on at least a quarterly basis;
expand its Spanish and other foreign language resources; and
continue to collaborate with other federal regulators through the Financial Literacy Education Commission (FLEC) and link to relevant resources from other federal regulators on the bureau’s website.

For full text of the letter, click here.

About NAFCU

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions is the only national trade association focusing exclusively on federal issues affecting the nation’s federally-insured credit unions. NAFCU membership is direct and provides credit unions with the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance. For more information on NAFCU, go to www.nafcu.org or @NAFCU on Twitter.