There are several issues pending in Congress of note to credit unions, such as robocall legislation as well as removing the regulatory hurdles in providing financial services to cannabis-related businesses. But federal advocacy also pulls in the regulatory bodies that touch credit union. Recent action of note: On behalf of the industry, CUNA has been engaged heavily with the Federal Reserve in regard to payments. After consistent engagement to protect credit unions’ access and ability going forward, CUNA went on record on November 7th as strongly supporting the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to develop interbank settlement of faster payments. The Fed proposed potential actions to create an interbank real-time gross settlement service with integrated clearing functionality called FedNow.
CUNA has also supported The Clearing House (TCH) efforts to develop its real-time payments network, and its letter notes that while credit unions have worked well with the TCH, “absent the [Federal Reserve] board or another entity operating a real-time payments network, more than 10,000 credit unions and community banks that are not owners of TCH would be beholden to the whims of TCH’s bank owners for a critical aspect of their infrastructure.” Stay tuned; the Fed has proposed to roll FedNow out in 2024 … and during the development, CUNA has urged the Fed to work closely with credit unions to ensure that they are a part of the process.
