Jeanne Kucey, CEO of JetStream Federal Credit Union (Miami Lakes, Fla.), joined us on the show to share her recent experience testifying before the Senate Banking subcommittee to share credit union recommendations regarding community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs).

Jeanne discussed why she testified before the Senate Banking subcommittee on these important topics, providing a credit union voice for our representatives. She also explained how the process works in getting chosen to testify, as well as  what was asked during her testimony and what did the subcommittee members wanted to know about credit unions leveraging the CDFI and MDI programs.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Credit Union Service Organizations (CUSOs) have never been more popular. The recent activity revolving around this very unique business model makes them very enticing  to invest in and or acquire. It's because of this activity that credit unions have found CUSOs to be quite advantageous to use as growth vehicles.

To give us more details, Capstone Partner John Dearing joined us and shared why credit unions are using CUSOs as growth vehicles. He also discussed how they are doing this, along with where he sees the most action in deal-making for today's CUSOs.

Lastly, John provides us with a few predictions for 2022 in this area.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Be sure to watch the entire episode located below the show notes.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions Director of Business Risk Strategy Tom Hunt stopped by the show to share findings from the organization's Small and Midsize Business (SMB) Lending Fraud study.

Tom gave us a quick overview of the lending fraud study, as well as some results that consisted of:

• More fraud prevention costs have involved labor compared to early 2020, as lending faced increased loan requests because of the Paycheck Protection Program.
• Online and mobile channels continue to represent the largest share of lending origination transactions. Mobile channel fraud losses have increased 10% or more, particularly among fintechs and larger banks.
• Lenders that layer more advanced identity authentication with advanced transaction/identity verification solutions experienced a lower rate of increased fraud overall and the pandemic had less of a fraud impact on these institutions.
• 73% respondents have seen some sort of fraud attack -- a 38% rise from last year
  

Tom talked about how these findings and more impact credit unions moving forward and how vital it is to stay on top of this never-ending issue.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

To honor, celebrate and support Black History Month, CUES President/CEO John Pembroke joined us on the show to discuss the recent launch of CUES Black Professional Network. John shared with us how this new network connects the credit union industry with trusted Black professionals, business owners and service providers. 

“We’re pleased to recognize and connect the credit union industry with the trusted Black-owned organizations and individuals that CUES supports and that support us,” says John. “CUES is committed to diversity and inclusion—not just in hiring practices, but in business partnerships and in purchasing goods and services, as well. Visitors to the directory will find listings for CUES supplier members, service providers, event speakers and more. We recognize that this list is limited, but we are committed to growing it by building business relationships with other Black-owned businesses and professionals.” 

John talked about how the network works, what sparked this idea, and how it will benefit credit unions -- and ultimately black credit union professionals who want to further their careers.

He also gives us a sneak peek on what's next with more resource networks from CUES on the horizon.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. 

Be sure to watch the entire episode located below the show notes.

CUNA’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Samira Salem joined us on the show to highlight the two DEI breakout sessions at the 2022 Governmental Affairs Conference:

• “The Real Real on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” (Monday, February 28, 3:15-4:30 p.m.)
• “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: The Key to Advancing Communities, Financial Well-being for All and our Future” (Tuesday, March 1, 2:30-3:45 p.m.)

Samira shares some takeaways for attendees, as well as where the credit union industry is in its DEI journey and how to keep the DEI conversation going long after the GAC.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.