Just a Member – Page 2

October 31, 2025October 31, 2025

Halloween Memories

Getting ready for flight or fright.

An Origin Story

Halloween has Scots’ origins. It was popularized in the 18th century by Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns in his 1785 poem, “Halloween.” The poem, which describes the gathering of locals on All-Hallows Eve to present crops, enjoy a feast, tell fortunes revealing one’s true love, trick-or-treat and frolic with the opposite sex, became a source catalog documenting folk customs celebrating All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The three days are collectively known as Allhallowtide, that portion of the church year “dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (“hallows”), martyrs, and all the departed. (Source: The Jefferson Educational Society, Book Notes # 78)

Autumn Movement

By Carl Sandburg

I cried over beautiful things knowing no beautiful thing lasts.

The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the copper

sunburned woman, the mother of the year, the taker of seeds.

The northwest wind comes and the yellow is torn full of holes,

new beautiful things come in the first spit of snow on the northwest wind,

and old thing go, not one lasts.

A Musical Tribute from the ’60’s

Halloween “music” from the American Bandstand TV show October 1964, The Monster Mash: Show your grandkids music from another era.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNuVifA7DSU)

October 30, 2025October 30, 2025

A Surprise for 1,254 Credit Unions & Heads Up for Everyone Else

Vendor relationships are an essential requirement of managing a credit union. All credit unions contract with an external vendor for their core processing operations and many ancillay addons.

Only one or two of these vendors are credit union owned CUSO’s. The others are for profit companies some privately owned and others public. Some serve primarily credit unions; others the entire financial market.

Credit Union DP’s Market Share

The largest market share for critical back office operations is Fiserv. In a 2024 survey, they served 1,264 credit unions or 27% of the total market. This share is provided through almost a dozen core options. This variety reflects FiServ’s business model of growth through acquisitions of independent credit union dp providers.

The next highest dp vendor’s share is Jack Henry with 544 credit union clients on a single platform.

A $30 Billion Loss in Market Cap Creating a Decline of 42-44% in Share Price

Yesterday Fiserv announced its operating results for the third quarter. The surprise result stunned the market. From Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing:

Fiserv stock suffered a record plunge after the fintech slashed its outlook for full-year earnings and unveiled third-quarter results that confounded Wall Street analysts. Chief Executive Officer Mike Lyons, who took the reins in February, said he discovered that Fiserv wasn’t going to be able to deliver on its previous promises after a broad-based review of the business in recent months. Lyons’ predecessor running Fiserv was Frank Bisignano, who left to join the Trump administration.

“More financial surprises emerged in the start of Q3,” Lyons told analysts on a conference call. “That prompted not just the annual strategic planning process, but this much more rigorous review into our financials. And that was also driven by some of the stuff we’re hearing from our clients.” (emphasis added)

Analysts expressed surprise at how quickly the business appears to have soured. Trevor Williams at Jefferies said the magnitude of the earnings miss and forecast cut “is difficult to comprehend.”

“To be frank, we are struggling to recall a miss and guide down to this degree in any of the sub-sectors we have covered during our time on the Street,” Matthew Coad, an analyst at Truist Financial, said in a note to clients.

What’s Next for Fiserv? For its Credit Union Clients?

The most revealing phrase in Fiserv CEO Lyons call was the reference to some of the stuff we’re hearing from our clients. That is pretty frank talk from a CEO facing a market confidence meltdown.

What’s next for credit unions? With up to twelve different core solutions and serous earnings pressures, some consolidation forgreater efficien would seem inevitable.

In addition to being aware of what changes may be coming, the next important question is what are my options? For the short run? And the longer run when my dp contract is up?

This uncertainty will put the focus on other credit union dp providers, especially those who may be credit union owned. Or credit union focused vendors who would appear to be financially stable, and not positioning for an eventual windfall sale to an outside party.

With all the public focus on new technology, it is important to remember the value of long term reliable relationships. The unique credit union solutions of creating CUSO’s to serve common tasks becomes more promising than ever. While CUSO’s must compete with for profit alternatives, often with greater resources, they do not confront the prospect of market sell offs driving business decisions.

Whatever the outcome of Fiserv’s fall from market grace, it should prompt a greater awareness and examination of each credit union’s core provider. What do you know about the company’s financial circumstances and client satisfaction?

October 29, 2025October 29, 2025

Why Member-Owner Participation in Credit Union Board Elections Matters

In a response to yesterday’s post citing PenFed, a member sent me the following notice requirements for an owner to be nominated for an open board potions at the credit union.

The 1% standard cited would require 28,128 member signatures based on the latest call report. It is a mere pretense of democratic owner control.

The member added this comment: Credit unions are becoming more like Fortune 500 companies every day. They exist not to meet the needs of customers or shareholders but entitled corporate executives.

The notice also contained short bios of the three board nominated candidates. The first is a retired army colonel who has been on the board since 2008 and serves on the Planning Committee.

The second is a retired USNR aviator who served for ten years on the Supervisory Committee before “joining the board” in 2022. He also serves on multiple committees including planning and risk management.

The third board nomination joined the board in 2005 and has just retired from a 38 year career working for the federal government. This person is the board treasurer and chair of the financial and risk committee and on the planning committee.

All have earned advanced degrees and have served in multiple professional civilian roles. No one would question their credentials. However their candidate descriptions include no statements about their priorities for the credit union and its current performance.

PenFed’s Recent Trends

At September 2023 PenFed’s total assets peaked at $35.4 billion. As of this June the total was $30 billion. This $5.4 billion asset decline is a continuing trend. In the 12 months ending June 2025, shares have fallen by over 10% or $3.0 billion, and loans by 13.2%, or $3.6 billion.

In the income and expense comparison for the first six months of 2024 and 2024, total revenue is down 14.1% and operating expenses by 3.75% The net income for both half years is positive with ROA’s of .27% and .54%. However these results were achieved by recording “non opeating gains” of $86.3 million and $95.3 million in the two periods. Otherwise, net income would be negative. Non-operating gains result from the one time sales of assets such as buildings or loans.

In the past 12 months, there has also been a decline in the number of branches (4), employees and members. It has downsized its balance sheet by reducing external borrowings from $3.8 billion at December 2023 to $756 million as of June 2025. The reduction in total assets has resulted in a net worth ratio between 9% and 10% even with minimal earnings in the past 24 months,

In sum, PenFed is moving steadily backwards.

The Strategic Catbird’s Seat

PenFed has one of the oldest and most recognizable brands in credit unions. It portrays strength and security suggesting a direct affiliation with the government. The credit union has an FOM charter open to anyone, reporting 342 million potential members.

During the past decade, the credit union has merged over 25 credit unions across the country, acquiring their equity. Often, after a brief transition, the local branches are closed, employees laid off, members offered only virtual services, and the buildings and other assets sold. The local legacy relationships, representation, community presence, and reputation are gone.

PenFed has had strategic advantages many other credit union’s covet. Scale, open membership, diverse products, a recognizable brand, multiple acquisitions of other credit union with their equity and increasing conversions to virtual and remote services. Yet it is in decline.

Where Are the Overseers?

These declining financial trends have taken place for at least the past two and a half years. What has the board been doing? What changes have been tried?

Members are not being served well by their director representatives. But what recourse do they have other than to close their account and leave?

This situation is a concrete example of why member-owner elections are important versus the habit of routine ratifications of board incumbents. All three PenFed nominees would seem to have exceptional credentials. But in practice they are shepherding a significant institutional dwindling.

The financial engineering to maintain a net worth above 9% by selling off assets to record non operating gains is not sustainable. Does the credit union even have a plan or leadershlp capable of reversing this diminishing?

This situation is why annual meetings should matter. Elections are moments for accountability not merely PR exercises. Democratic elections empower owners and promote leader responsibility. In the absence of member participation, there is no answerability by those in leadership positions.

When the regulator is the last resort for addressing financial and operational shortcomings, the credit union has lost its autonomy. And member-owners’ needs are sidelined to meet the priorities of the government overseer.

When democracy as the means for leadership accountability is abandoned, the outcome is rule by habit or authority. Neither is a sustainable approach for long term success.

October 28, 2025October 28, 2025

The Big 3 Credit Unions and Member-Owner Democratic Practice

In a January 2024 blog, I described NCUA’s approval of bylaw changes for Navy and Pentagon FCU’s that effectively eliminated the ability of member-owners to nominate directors for board openings. (link)

In the post Who is Responsible for Credit Union Democracy, I summarized these changes:

The two largest FCU’s quietly changed the required number of signatures for member nominations for the board. In both situations the change removed the 500-signature standard bylaw and replaced it with a percentage of members. For Navy this new signature requirement was 26,000 and for PenFed 5,800 based on their latest reported member counts.

Now the trifecta for the three largest credit unions is complete. In 2023 and 2024 SECU NC had contested board elecrtions. In the first year, member nominated candidates defeated the board selected ones. The next year the board nominated candidates won with tens of thousands members casting ballots.

In 2025 there was no contested election at SECU. The board chosen candidates were seated by acclamation. In this post Jim Blaine, a member and former CEO, gives a summary of this voting process (link) titled The SECU Annual Meeting: Isn’t this a Losing Struggle?

It is not just the Big 3 who have shut down member elections. It has become the standard operating practice for all but a few credit unions. So does it matter? Why worry if everything seems to be going OK?

Why Voting Matters for the Future of Credit Unions in America

It empowers members in their role as owners. You are more than a customer.
It implements the democratic design of cooperative governance via member oversight.
It opens director leadership positions to the widest possible selection of candidates.
Voting gives current and potential candidates a chance to state their visions for the credit union.
Without a vote, the director nomination and selection becomes a “closed loop” that perpetuates existing leaders and their self-chosen adherents.
The Board’s standing to carry out its oversight and policy roles is not presented to members and increasingly makes directors totally dependent on management.
Without elected board leadership, the default arbiter of vital decisions about credit union activity is the regulator-e.g. bank purchases, mergers and even operational priorities.
With voting negated, there is an accountability gap that isolates credit union leaders from the consequences of their operational decisions and performance outcomes.

Voting determines who holds the political power in the credit union. Without choice, power is concentrated in directors and CEO’s who assert responsibility but not answerability to the owners. The credit union model becomes compromised, and leaders gravitate away from member needs and value to their views of organizational success.

Absent proper governance via director elections, the cooperative model descends into a system of autonomous, independent financial oligarchies. They take generations of member-generated collective wealth to run their personal private organization. Credit unions are increasingly financial islands protected by seawalls from taxation and the traditional market indicators or measures of accountability.

Managing financial wealth is an intoxicating and addictive activity. It symbolizes and enables the exercise of power in every sector of society. For many individuals, it is the ultimate indicator of personal success and meaning.

What was once common wealth has become privatized. The cooperative model is merely a veneer from a prior era of innovation. And to keep the critical advantage of no taxation.

Ultimately the perversion of this primary check and balance by coop owners will lead to safety and soundness issues where credit unions combine out of fear or greed. The public perception will be that multi-billion dollar credit unions no longer serve a unique public purpose or need.

For some this is the inevitable outcome n a society that worships capitalism and wealth accumulation. For others, it will be an opportunity to innovate and find new ways to bring the common good to areas of personal needs.

October 27, 2025October 27, 2025

A Startup Story: The Decatur-Wabash Credit Union

In his 1951 book Credit for the Millions, author Richard Giles has just one data chart. It is used to document an extraordinary example illustrating the author’s thesis of the criticall role of credit unions providing loans for working class Americans.

The first two decades of the Decatur-Wabash Credit Union chartered in 1928 are told in a case study of a whole chapter, Working for the Railroad. The success of this state charter was so great that by 1945 the credit union’s loan outstandings of $1.005 million were over .80% of the total loan balances for all credit unions.

Following are highlights from the case study. Its evolution is a remarkable tribute to the power of cooperative credit.

A Roy Bergengren Beginning

The chief rail clerk of the Decatur roundhouse of the Wabash Railroad was Richard Long. He had read about the new credit union idea.

Railroad’s clerks need for credit was “insatiable.” Credit union founder Roy Bergengren made a brief transit stop in Decatur to change trains, met with Long and left the legal forms to start a credit union.

By yearend 1928 this new charter had 142 members, 44 borrowers, assess of $1, 738 and an average loan balance of $22.25. The following year the credit union “took off” with 732 members and total assets over $22,000. The average loan balance doubled in size.

Then the Great Depression hit. New loan balances fell from $40K per year to $10K. But in 1935 the credit union took three initiatives that recaptured its growth momentum. As industrial activity began to recover, the credit union opened its membership to all employees of the Wabash railroad from Buffalo to Omaha.

Secondly it offered life savings and loan protection insurance after CUNA was organized in 1935. Finally, to serve all Wabash employees, the credit union began payroll deduction for its savings and loan accounts. Credit union policy required a regular savings program to obtain a loan.

Membership took off growing from 1,000 in 1936 to 6,702 in 1949. The free life savings and loan protection insurance was an important benefit drawing new members. The treasurer (CEO) of the credit union stated the benefit was the primary reason for extraordinary growth. The author provides specific examples of insurance payments for individual accounts and circumstances.

The Member’s Voice

The one policy that was not universal among credit unions was the compulsory savings requirement to obtain a loan. As summarized by the author: “Most credit unions were afraid that it might alienate borrowers. The fact that it has not done so to any perceptible degree in Decatur-Wabash seems to prove that perseverance and sincerity can overcome almost any obstacle. Perhaps it should also be pointed out that the policy, like all the other Decatur-Wabash Principles is subject to review at all time by the membership, who can unseat their board of directors or reverse their policy at any time. The members have accepted compulsory savings because it presumably makes savers out of borrowers.” (pages 117-118)

The book’s purpose is to describe how critical credit unions were in meeting consumers’ need for credit. In this case study he describes the circumsances that made its lending so pivotal. Loans secured by savings were granted immediately. Emergency loans are granted by telephone. The two primary loan purposes were for medical expenses and household improvements. The credit union had not entered auto lending at that point.

Proving a Point

The only chart in this 200 page book is the yearend loan balances of all credit unions from 1940 through 1947 compared to Decatur-Wabash’s total loans outstanding (page 119). This one credit union’s loans grew from .25% to . 62% of all credit union outstandings in these eight years. The peak percentage was in 1945 at .80%.

In 1947 there were 8,930 active credit unions (3, 845 FCU’s and 5,085 state chaters). In less than one generation of leadership, Decatur-Wabash had become a leader showing how a single startup can lead an industry even in the uncertainty of the depression and the the financial priorities of WW II.

It is a case study which is a factual and detailed tribute to a remarkable run of performance and the power of democratic governance. My only question: What happened to this charter? I have not found the rest of the story, if anyone has this information.

October 24, 2025October 24, 2025

How Do You Start Your Day?

Sometimes events or circumstances can cause us to feel down. Sometimes to hopelessness.

Here is an example of how one group begins its day together. They work with each other under the most difficult circumstances people in any nation could confront.

Be sure to turn on the sound from this facebook video. (link)

The song is Prayer for Ukraine.

Their example reminds me of this observation:

I used to believe that prayer changes things; but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.

Mother Teresa

October 23, 2025October 23, 2025

Democracy Takes Work-Especially in a Cooperative

(Note: this post continues a series exploring the democratic foundation of credit unions)

President Eisenhower:

“Dictatorial systems make one contribution to their people which leads them to tend to support such systems—freedom from the necessity of informing themselves and making up their own minds concerning…tremendous complex and difficult questions. But while this responsibility is a taxing one to a free people it is their great strength as well—from millions of individual free minds come new ideas, new adjustments to emerging problems, and tremendous vigor, vitality and progress…. While complete success will always elude us, still it is a quest which is vital to self-government and to our way of life as free men.”

This year’s fall election cycle, allbeit limited, is putting the issue of what American democracy means front and center. Some believe it is about majority rule-the winner calls all the shots. Others have a more nuanced view of participation, diverse representation and compromise.

One of the ways citizens in America learn about democratic practice is its use in the many civic and public organizations in which we all participate: churches, local elections, volunteer and nonprofit groups.

Credit unions are designed to be democratically governed. One person, one vote. The primary means for how this process is exercised is at the members’ annual meeting and the election to fill board openings.

Practice Without Substance

In a conversation with a long-time credit union member ( joined at age 5 in 1966) he said he never saw an actual election. Instead he learned the Chair would appoint a nominating committee led by the Vice Chair. That committee selected just the number of persons as there were open seats. The candidates were all familiar faces from the existing board or “associate board” members. The test was loyalty-would they “go along to get along” with the rest of the board. The tenures of several of these board members extended cases over three decades.

This description would be familiar to many credit union boards. The election process is managed to perpetuate the incumbents or their fellow travelers. It is democratic in neither practice nor theory. In the end the credit union is led by persons who believe in their special skills or status to remain in office for as long as they wish.

The justification for this self-perpetuating board selection is the idea of a “leadership class” similar to trustees, that should not have to answer to voting owners, let alone face a contested election. This is especially so when external factors suggest satisfactory organizational performance. Why tinker with success? Aren’t we doing what is expected, and leading well enough?

Without Elections, Institutions Decay

However, when a minority, no matter how talented, takes control of a credit union board and its selection process, the responsiveness and accountability of the institution to its member owners is at risk. Which means the future of the credit union is not in the hands of the members, but of a small group who eventually may tire of the task and decide to end the charter—not find new leaders.

The penultimate example is when these self-selected insiders chose to sellout their credit unions history and enter into a merger. This ending destroys generations of value and loyalty for immediate payouts to the CEO and rhetorical promises for the future under leadership the members had no role in selecting.

Without the annual accountability via elections, the “leadership class” will become conditioned to act unilaterally. This isolation is one reason why the number of credit unions has fallen from 6,000 to 4,000 in just the past seven years– an attrition almost all via mergers of sound institutions.

These are not financial failures. They are failures of leadership and morale. And it all depends on having a passive, uninvolved membership that will act as a customer and not owners-especially at the annual meeting.

Why Credit Union Democrative Practice Matters

Democracy is about more than elections. Even autocracies pretend to elect their leaders. Real elections ultimately undergird freedoms. As Richard Rohr has stated in another context: But it’s a freedom we must choose for ourselves. It is almost impossible to turn away from what seems like the only game in town (political, economic, or religious), unless we have glimpsed a more attractive alternative. It’s hard to imagine it, much less imitate it, unless we see someone else do it first.

The example of freedom and self-governence is the ultimate benefit credit unions contribute to a democratic society. Without elections, the special economic opportunities from cooperative design will sooner or later be compromised by the allure of capitalist inspired greed.

October 22, 2025October 22, 2025

Volume 1, No. 1 — The Bridge and Credit Union Democracy

This week I explore the integral role credit unions expected to play supporting democracy in America. Yesterday’s post presented ten principles of cooperative action during WW II when democracies united to fight fascist dictatorships.

Today I describe how this role is framed in the first credit union publication, The Bridge.

In the Beginning

The first national credit union journal appeared in June 1924. Called The Bridge, the lead articles included: Postal Employees Take to Cooperative Banking and New Jersey Credit Union Law Enacted.

But most importantly in this initial edition was the Announcement box centered on the front page. This column gave the rationale for The Bridge’s name. It was a metaphor referring to credit union’s fundamental purpose to promote democracy.

Below is a copy of that front page. After the photo is a retyped, clearer version, of this statement of credit union’s role in America’s democratic development.

The Paramount Function

Announcement!

May we present “The Bridge!”

Other issues will appear from time to time as the development of cooperative people’s banks throughout the United States warrants. In seventeen states—from New Hampshire in the north to Mississippi in the south and west to Oregon—there are now credit union laws. It is the mission of the “The Bridge” to recount further credit union progress as it develops period.

Why the name “The Bridge”? Alphonse Desjardins, great disciple of Raiffeisen and pioneer in the development of cooperative banking in North America, said in his book: “Success for the young democracies of this continent depends upon the prosperity and worth of life to the millions of working men who compose them.”

The paramount function of any democracy is to equalize the opportunity of those people who constitute it. The credit union is in very fact—a bridge; it may be the bridge over which the tenant farmer travels the wide gap that separates him from ownership of the soil; it may be the way that opens the great land of Opportunity to the wage worker who finds his savings the “open sesame” to broader possibilities for himself and his family.

If credit unions, when logically developed on the broadest scale, educate great numbers of our people in the management and control of money; if they result in a better citizenship; if they serve as a great practical Americanization process—the credit union system will prove to be a bridge—over which, as a people, we may travel to a more perfect, a sound and a permanent democracy.

Casting around for a name for this record of credit union progress–why not—“The Bridge”

June 1924, Vol. L No. 1

October 21, 2025October 21, 2025

The Credit Union Committment to Democracy

On a visit to Seattle a week ago, I found two credit union traces. The first was a street level branch for BECU near the Pike Street Market on 1st Avenue.

The second was a listing of books referencing credit unions from the business and industrial section of the Seattle Public Library. One of the books was The Fight for Economic Democracyin North America 1921-1945 by Roy Bergengren.

Published in 1952 by this co-founder (with Edward Filene) of America’s credit union system, the book tells the founding story describing those efforts as a crusade for economic demcracy.

As the title suggests, democracy is a key theme for this post WW II cooperative history. It is more than a movement. Credit unions are integral to America’s democratic aspirations for equal opportunity.

A Statement of Principles

Bergengren included an example of credit union support for war bond savings drives that proclaims this larger purpose for the cooperative system. Here is the V for victory poster with the credit union logo and the statements of purpose.

Here are the ten principles retyped for readability. Some are war related, but others much broader for credit union’s role with members and their communities (emphasis added).

THIS CREDIT UNION HAS ENLISTED FOR DEMOCRACY

Our first objective is to win the war.
We will encourage and promote thrift and the saving of money as a basic personal war service.
We will encourage and promote regular saving by our members and families for security and the future.
We will make loans to foster the growth of stability in our community.
We will urge members to buy war savings stamps and bonds regularly.
We will keep faith with the requirements of the community, state and nation in all our practices and policies.
We will supply our members immediately savings that otherwise might go into channels that would drain the war effort.
We will keep our members mindful that saving, with wise use of the resulting credit, will help shorten the war.
We will keep the records of our progress clear, complete and available.

10.We will maintain the existing democratic character of our credit union and apply the lessons we are learning daily to our postwar democracy.

Today’s Credit Unions

Seventy-five years on, are credit unions living up to the legacy described by Bergengren and passed forward to today’s member-owners? Is democratic practice described in this statement still a guiding principle? Most critically, if not, what governance process has replaced it?

As demonstrated this past weekend, many believe America’s political future is at risk. Can credit unions in their cooperative way show their commitment to maintain the existing democratic character of our credit union and apply the lessons we are learning daily to our democracy?

October 20, 2025October 20, 2025

Americans Celebrate their Democarcy

Seeing and participating publicly in community creates hope, especially around shared values.

Common purpose was on full display this past weekend. Nationwide people exercised their rights of self-expression and assembly supporting democracy.

These principles are also the foundation for cooperative credit unions. The movement claims over 100 million members and democratic governance. Are these assertions still true? Would members show their support as in these weekend scenes from the DC area?

The Young

And old