Attendees at the 2022 Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) no longer need to verify their vaccine status to attend the credit movement’s signature event, held February 27-March 3, after Washington, D.C., officials lifted the vaccine verification requirement to enter indoor venues. Additionally, the indoor mask requirement will expire on Monday, February 28.

“We’re pleased that COVID-19 numbers are moving in the right direction in Washington, D.C.,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “This does not change our commitment to providing a safe and enjoyable event for all attendees, and we will continue to work with the staff at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to adhere to the latest safety recommendations.”

While the city-wide vaccine verification requirement has been lifted, businesses may choose to continue to ask customers for vaccination verification or to adhere to mask guidelines. The Walter E. Washington Convention Center will no longer require proof of vaccination; however, CUNA is awaiting further guidance on their mask guidelines after the city-wide requirement expires on February 28.

Bullet points on what to expect:

• GAC attendees are no longer required to complete the Safe Expo verification process.
• The Walter E. Washington Convention Center will no longer require attendees to verify vaccine status.
• Mask requirements are not firm and will most likely hinge on the final decision from the Convention Center. Historically, they have asked visitors to wear a mask indoors.
• We encourage attendees to bring a copy of their vaccine card because some restaurants and hotels may still require verification. This requirement will vary business to business. Please contact your hotel or restaurant for confirmation.
• Health and safety requirements are up to date on the GAC website and confirmed attendees have been notified of the latest changes.
• CUNA will still leverage the Safe Expo vendor to provide onsite COVID-19 testing should attendees need that service.
• Attendees are supportive of the pivots as it is reflective of what we have dealt with as a nation over the last two years.

For more information, visit the CUNA GAC website.

​Member Driven Technologies (MDT), a CUSO that hosts the Episys® core processing system from Symitar® to provide a private cloud alternative for core processing and IT needs, today announced that it has expanded its partnership with Advanced Fraud Solutions (AFS), a leading provider of payments fraud detection software, adding TrueACH® with Account Validation and TrueCards® to MDT’s suite of complementary solutions. These tools will help credit unions minimize the risk of fraud and help comply with Nacha standards.
 
TrueACH with Account Validation is designed to assist credit unions in complying with Nacha’s WEB Debit Account Validation Rule. The rule, which will be officially enforced on March 19, 2022, mandates ACH originators to validate accounts for ACH WEB transactions. By leveraging TrueACH with Account Validation, MDT’s credit union clients will be able to more easily confirm the account status and account owner or authorized user(s) on an account. By offering this as well as TrueCards, an omnichannel credit and debit card fraud prevention solution, MDT will help its credit union clients minimize the risk of trending fraud schemes such as account takeover, application fraud and transaction fraud.
 
“Regulation is driving significant changes and our approach to compliance has had to evolve; one of the main reasons we chose MDT as a partner was their ability to nimbly adapt,” said Troy Garvin, CEO of OMEGA FCU. “Their commitment and dedication to their credit union clients is reflected in partnerships with organizations such as AFS.”
 
Garvin added, “When we converted to MDT last November, we knew that account validation was likely to expose and help us manage fraud. Now with the new Nacha rules being implemented, we’re confident that we have a reliable partner that keeps a close pulse on developments in the industry and will help us better navigate regulatory changes. The question CEOs need to ask is, ‘do I have a partner like MDT who is always looking out for my best interest?’”.
 
TrueACH with Account Validation triangulates ACH account information against AFS’ cooperative database. With the solution, MDT’s clients can receive real-time responses on if the account exists and is in good standing; if the account is returning transactions; if the account is closed, non-sufficient funds (NSF), or at high-risk status; when the account has a stop-payment; and if the person is authorized to transact on the account. 
 
“Our solutions help credit unions comply with Nacha’s rule, better protect their members as well as provide faster funds availability and faster checking-to-checking and checking-to-savings transactions, enhancing the member experience,” said Ted Kirk, VP of Strategic Partnerships at AFS. “Through expanding our partnership with MDT, we’ll be able to support more credit unions with this important initiative, helping them make faster payments safer and less prone to fraud.”
 
“As faster payments continue to become more prevalent, fraudsters are becoming more active in the space,’” explained Larry Nichols, president and CEO of MDT. “It’s critical that credit unions recognize the sense of urgency to meet the Nacha WEB Debit Account Validation rule, to not only properly comply but to better protect their members as well. By offering TrueACH with Account Validation and TrueCards, to our credit union clients, they will be able to strengthen anti-fraud measures and ensure that payments land in the correct account, leading to a safer, improved member experience.”

 Summit Credit Union is pleased to announce the success of their second “Join the Huddle” campaign. During the months of August through December last year, Summit Credit Union set up an online auction for tickets to Carolina Panthers’ regular season home games. Each winning bidder was given the choice among five pre-selected charities for where to donate the funds from their bid. These charities included Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals/Duke Children’s Hospital, Backpack Beginnings, Toys for Tots, and Wounded Warrior Project. 

Summit Credit Union also held a “Summit Wears Pink Week” pledge drive in October where staff donated money to wear pink with jeans for the week. Staff raised $700 pledged solely to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. 

In total, Summit Credit Union raised over $3,600 for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals/Duke Children’s Hospital, and BackPack Beginnings. 100% of pledges and auction proceeds were donated to the four charities in January 2022. 

“As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, we are always looking to give back to the communities we serve in a unique way. We thank the Carolina Panthers for helping us to bring one of those ways to life. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased with the continued success of our Join the Huddle campaign and look forward to joining the huddle again later this year”, says Sam Whitehurst, President and CEO of Summit Credit Union. “Keep Pounding!” 

 Summit Credit Union is pleased to announce the success of their second “Join the Huddle” campaign. During the months of August through December last year, Summit Credit Union set up an online auction for tickets to Carolina Panthers’ regular season home games. Each winning bidder was given the choice among five pre-selected charities for where to donate the funds from their bid. These charities included Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals/Duke Children’s Hospital, Backpack Beginnings, Toys for Tots, and Wounded Warrior Project. 

Summit Credit Union also held a “Summit Wears Pink Week” pledge drive in October where staff donated money to wear pink with jeans for the week. Staff raised $700 pledged solely to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. 

In total, Summit Credit Union raised over $3,600 for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals/Duke Children’s Hospital, and BackPack Beginnings. 100% of pledges and auction proceeds were donated to the four charities in January 2022. 
​
“As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, we are always looking to give back to the communities we serve in a unique way. We thank the Carolina Panthers for helping us to bring one of those ways to life. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased with the continued success of our Join the Huddle campaign and look forward to joining the huddle again later this year”, says Sam Whitehurst, President and CEO of Summit Credit Union. “Keep Pounding!” 

Guided by their mission to deliver outstanding service to their members, 7 17 Credit Union ($1.36 billion in assets; 100,000 members; Warren, OH) has selected Corelation’s KeyStone as the best core processor to support their digital-forward approach.  After experiencing strong, sustained growth over the past few years, the credit union has realized the need to switch to a core that could position them for the future.

“From a strategic standpoint, our top priority is to be technologically sound and deliver our services digitally to our members.  KeyStone’s open architecture and KeyBridge API will give us the freedom to partner with third-parties that offer the best products and services to our members,” shared 7 17 Credit Union President and CEO Gary Soukenik. 

7 17 Credit Union’s core search initiative assessed 35 key processes and found KeyStone to be the best equipped to handle them.  Highlights include the openness of the system, the ‘More in the Core’ features, ease of access to member information, and the intuitive user interface.

“Selecting KeyStone was a credit union-wide decision, driven by our frontline staff who use the core daily,” explained 7 17 Credit Union SVP Innovation and Information Technology Brian Boettcher.  “The idea that you can access any piece of information in just a couple clicks will allow our team to focus on the member service experience.”

The credit union anticipates that KeyStone’s ease of use will significantly reduce the learning curve for new employees and enable their staff to efficiently resolve member requests.

“With Corelation’s sincere desire to understand our strategic objectives and their dedication to helping us achieve them, we look forward to a partnership founded on mutual success,” added Soukenik.

7 17 Credit Union is scheduled to convert in May 2023.
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“Recently surpassing the 100,000-member milestone is a testament to 7 17 Credit Union’s commitment to the communities they serve and bettering their members’ lives financially,” noted Corelation President Rob Landis.  “Please join us in welcoming 7 17 Credit Union to the Corelation family!”

As credit unions balance their mission to serve people with the need to make strides in an increasingly competitive financial services industry, CU NextGen is continuously innovating to help credit unions overcome challenges and enhance service experience. In its latest move, CU NextGen, a CUSO providing technology and automation solutions, has announced the ongoing
development of a new venture, Nextly, a cutting edge digital banking platform designed for credit unions.

“As MSUFCU evaluated what was next for our digital banking platforms, we knew that control, customization, and flexibility were at the heart of what we needed to maintain our current unique member experience, and set us up for innovation as we go forward,” explained Ben Maxim, VP of Digital Strategy and Innovation at MSUFCU and CTO at Reseda Group. “We’ve been working with CU NextGen for the past several years and knew that together we could build a digital banking solution that would meet our goals for our members and employees, but also change the way credit unions think about digital banking.”

Along with providing their expertise in online and mobile banking development, MSUFCU is helping support the Nextly project through a $4.5 million investment from their wholly-owned CUSO, Reseda Group. Reseda Group believes in building better for members and Nextly will provide just that, a platform that provides access and control for credit unions while creating a superior experience for members.

Nextly will have the ability to function as a standalone solution and integrate seamlessly with all of CU NextGen’s solutions. The platform’s perceptive and responsive design will enhance member experience with account aggregation, intelligent voice and chatbot technology, voice and video calls and innovative support options. Featured self-service opportunities include fully supported card control, loan management options, Docu-Sign support and other features. Integrating out-of-the-box conversational artificial intelligence, chatbot and member interactions, Nextly will also provide full support for commercial and business digital banking as well as integrated loan and account openings.

A highly customizable solution, Nextly is architected on CU NextGen’s No-Code platform, and is designed to reduce vendor reliance for customizations and make platform management intuitive and easy for credit unions. Through the No-Code platform, Nextly will enable credit unions to reduce downtime and avoid high-risk code pushes, as well as increase their speed to market for innovation on their digital banking platform. Its drag-and-drop interface will simplify the process of creating new enhancements and updating forms. Additionally, Nextly’s mobile platform will offer a feature set identical to its desktop platform for ideal feature parity and consistent user experience.
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According to Kent Zimmer CU NextGen CEO, Nextly will offer both credit unions and their members with a robust feature set that’s easy to use. “Of course, technology should enhance functionality, whether for the member, the credit union or both – but that’s simply not enough. We design our technology to go beyond enhancing the user experience to guide the user through tasks intuitively, so that the user doesn’t even have to think about it. What the user should remember after using Nextly will not be the process of using technology, but rather what they were able to accomplish so easily. That’s what we’re designing Nextly to do. It’s something that we’re really excited about, and we’re looking forward to sharing our excitement with the credit union industry.”

​Greater Nevada Credit Union (GNCU) has been certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The U.S. Department of Treasury issued the certification to GNCU in January of this year. With $1.6 billion in assets, GNCU is both the largest financial institution and the only CDFI-certified credit union with headquarters in the state of Nevada.
 
To be eligible for certification as a CDFI, financial institutions must adhere to stringent requirements such as offering services for development, remaining accountable to their main target market, and striving to promote development within their communities. CDFIs invest in local communities and the residents who live there by providing critically needed financing often unavailable from conventional financial institutions.
 
“Certification as a CDFI institution is a reflection of Greater Nevada Credit Union’s commitment to our community and for helping people in Nevada Live Greater,” Wally Murray, GNCU President and CEO, said. “Nevada has typically been one of the most underfunded states in terms of CDFI institutions and grant-funded programs to serve those who need it most. We plan to leverage both our passion and our experience to utilize the CDFI Fund to help even more individuals and their families achieve better financial outcomes.”
 
The CDFI designation will allow GNCU to explore innovative new programs for individuals who may not qualify for conventional loans, deposit accounts, and down-payment assistance programs. CDFI organizations can apply for the CDFI Fund’s grant, tax credit, and bond programs that are administered annually. Those funds can be used to build the resources to better serve low-income individuals and communities that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services.
 
“Greater Nevada Credit Union is already active throughout our region providing affordable products, free financial education, and direct monetary support to organizations that provide a range of economic and community development benefits,” Murray said. “This designation will allow us to look for impactful programs that focus on reaching those disadvantaged and underserved populations who can directly benefit more from accessing our services.”
 
Greater Nevada Credit Union worked with CU Strategic Planning, a Tacoma, Washington-based firm that assists institutions with the CDFI application process. Certified CDFIs are part of a national network promoting economic growth in America’s underserved communities by financing businesses, creating jobs, and rebuilding neighborhoods.
 
To learn more about GNCU including its ongoing impact in northern Nevada, visit gncu.org. Those interested in learning more about CDFI organizations can visit cdfifund.gov.

​Member Driven Technologies (MDT), a CUSO that hosts the Episys® core processing system from Symitar® to provide a private cloud alternative for core processing and IT needs, today announced that Daniel L. Schneider has been elevated to vice president of project, training and professional services.
 
Unifying these three areas shifts the delivery of MDT’s services all under one umbrella, creating tighter integration and more seamless processes. Roles such as project managers, analysts and consultants now have greater access to and transparency into one another’s knowledge base and activities, leading to more strategic delivery and successful client outcomes.
 
“Not only do we host credit unions’ cores and critical IT infrastructure at MDT, but we also conduct sophisticated configuration work to ensure that each credit union’s technology can meet their unique needs,” explained Dan. “By bringing together project management, training and professional services, we’re creating synergies that help ensure implementation and beyond is as smooth and intentional as possible for our clients. I look forward to taking on this new role and helping clients leverage technology in more impactful ways.”
 
In this new expanded role, Dan will oversee training, core conversions, mergers and implementation of new software and services. He will also oversee MDT’s consulting services, which help clients evaluate and optimize business processes and their use of technology. Credit unions can tap into MDT’s deep technical expertise and high-level strategy to help plan and execute their roadmaps.
 
“As the industry continues to embrace trends like digitization and open banking, this organizational shift allows us to better serve and support our credit union clients as they evaluate, implement and leverage new technologies,” said Larry Nichols, CEO of MDT. “Dan has been a valuable member of our team for more than a decade, and I’m confident in his ability to blend and enhance these areas, positioning both our organization and our credit union clients for success.”

Nuvision Alaska is offering a scholarship opportunity for graduating high school students. Its Essay Challenge encourages graduating seniors to share their educational and personal goals. Six students will be selected through a competitive process by their essay to receive a $5,000 scholarship toward a college of their choice. 

“We want students to really give thought to their future, financial planning and their individual path to financial success,” said Nuvision CEO Roger Ballard. “We’re excited to continue this popular scholarship program that helps families early on, as having an understanding of personal finance provides foundational support as young Alaskans prepare for college life.” 

Students are asked to apply a meaning to financial success and describe personal goals to achieve financial success, including habits to practice and improve financial well-being, in a brief essay no longer than two-pages.  

The deadline to enter is April 22, 2022 and an application packet is available at Nuvision’s EssayChallenge.com.  ​

CUES is expanding its talent development offerings into the nonprofit sector through TalentED, the industry leader announced at its annual Symposium conference. This new offering, pronounced ‘Talent-Ed’, will work with nonprofits to develop the leadership potential of their executive teams, board members, and staff.

“At a CUES event a few years back, CUES was approached and asked to hold a special Governance Leadership Institute for a nonprofit organization in Canada. We did so, with great success, and it made us realize two things,” said John Pembroke, CUES President/CEO. “One--nonprofits sorely need access to talent development; and two, CUES already has many of these resources readily available. That was the beginning of the TalentED initiative.”

“According to recent studies, talent development is an important differentiator in attracting and retaining top performers in the nonprofit sector, just as it is for credit unions,” said Tony Covington, TalentED’s VP/Business Development. “70% of nonprofit employees value professional development opportunities—yet 43% feel their career development needs aren't being met.”

TalentED offers the following to the nonprofit sector:

• TalentED Consulting, customized talent development plans focusing on Governance Education, Leadership Development Programming, Talent Development Planning, or Executive Coaching
• Women in Leadership Cornell Certificate Program ate Program
• Strategy and Digital Marketing Cornell Certificate Program

“Great partnerships—like what we have with our credit union partners, are important. No one can change the world on their own,” said Covington. “We’re excited for credit unions to learn more about TalentED, and discover how TalentED can help them help the nonprofits they are passionate about.”

Learn more about TalentED at TalentED.org. Learn more about CUES at cues.org.

Intuitive design. Faster analysis. Enhanced reporting. All packaged into a sleek, modern interface. These are just a few of the changes users can expect to see with the launch of Callahan’s newest analytics tool, Peer+, now available in beta to all Callahan clients with access to Peer-to-Peer.

Peer+, Callahan’s classic Peer-to-Peer software, reimagined combines performance analysis and market share data into one easy-to-use platform.

“By combining performance and market share data, into one platform, we’re excited to make analysis easy and powerful for our users,” said Alix Patterson, chief experience officer at Callahan & Associates. “Our goal is to help the credit union industry make data-backed strategic decisions and share data openly among their organizations.”

In Peer+, users can easily compare the performance of credit unions to other cooperatives and banks using NCUA 5300 Call Report, FDIC Call Report, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data, socioeconomic data, census data, and more. Other features of Peer+ include:

• A new interface with intuitive navigation, making it easier for users to find what they are looking for when analyzing credit union data.
• A streamlined workflow for creating and editing peer groups and custom displays.
• Enhanced functionality that allows users to see changes to formulas and charts in real-time, as well as autosave functionality in custom displays.
• Market analysis (MarketAnalyzer) which includes access to demographic, HMDA lending, and deposit dynamics at the geographic level.
• Dashboard displays make it simple for users to look at and compare multiple metrics in one view.

“At Callahan, we believe credit unions shouldn’t have to choose between managing today and building a better tomorrow,” said Patterson. “Peer+ is designed to help users take complex data and make it easily digestible while increasing economic opportunity in their communities.

Learn more about Peer+ at www.callahan.com/peer.