Page 18 - Cuj Feature News Today

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is examining whether artificial intelligence discriminates against minorities and other applicants. But GreenState Credit Union in Iowa says the technology can be harnessed to make lending fairer in underserved communities.

To ensure authenticity, Community First Credit Union had its AI-powered voice system learn by communicating with Spanish-speaking employees who could teach it local terms and mannerisms.

The state's Treasurer's office is urging lenders to make loans to cover the steep costs of adoption. Participating credit unions get an extra incentive by being permitted to accept deposits from public institutions — a perk typically enjoyed only by banks.

Credit unions were unable to garner enough support for a bill that would allow them to hold funds for government agencies in the Centennial State.

Two years since the coronavirus began its spread, members are still hoarding savings and are hesitant to borrow due to the economic uncertainty. This has led to the industry's lowest-ever yield-on-assets ratio — a key metric for measuring financial health.

The National Credit Union Administration’s effort to require succession planning has raised questions about whether the agency is micromanaging smaller institutions that may not be able to absorb the added cost of compliance.

The proposed combination of Vermont State Employees Credit Union and New England Federal Credit Union would create a $3 billion-asset institution. Some past leaders worry that the deal will erase one institution's local touch.

By putting younger, more diverse talent in executive roles, CEOs of institutions such as Kaua'i Federal Credit Union in Hawaii and OnPath Federal Credit Union in Louisiana are taking steps to better represent the communities they serve.

Banks and credit unions that use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to onboard customers without Social Security numbers are seeing sizable growth in loans and deposits from people who might otherwise be unbanked.

Credit unions with less than $100 million of assets are seeing their loans and membership counts shrink. M&A may be the only option for such institutions, which run on skeleton crews and have few options for cutting costs.