CUs need to say 'Hey! We're the good guys!'

MADISON, Wis. (6/2/08)--Television commentator and retail financial services expert Ron Galloway, director of a controversial documentary about Wal-Mart, believes credit unions are the only financial institutions that consumers can trust.

But as National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) Executive Director Steve Delfin explains in his "Viewpoint" column in the June issue of Credit Union Magazine, credit unions need to tell their story.

"I met and heard Galloway speak at the Credit Union Association of Colorado and Wyoming's Annual Meeting," Delfin said. "While not optimistic about America's economy, he now emphatically asks, 'Why aren't credit unions telling their story? In case you guys haven't noticed, banks aren't particularly keen on credit unions. They're trying to eat your lunch on Capitol Hill.'"
As Galloway tells credit unions with his Georgia vernacular, "Y'all need to get loud! You need to say, 'Hey! We're the good guys!'"

"He's right," Delfin said. "We need to tell our stories about the value of credit unions, about the help we provide, about outreach to emerging underserved populations, and about how credit unions are the only financial institutions that consumers can trust."

NCUF is offering credit unions the opportunity to tell their stories in the Social Impact and Community Outreach Special Supplement in Credit Union Magazine. The supplement will be featured in NCUF's Annual Report to be published in the October issue of Credit Union Magazine.

To reserve a spot in the supplement, credit unions and their supporters can use the resource link or call Delfin at 800-356-9655, ext. 6769.

"Credit unions truly are standard bearers of social responsibility in the financial services industry," Delfin concludes. "Credit unions are where the institutional values and principles of the cooperative business model have so clearly and emphatically resulted in socially responsible, ethical, pro-consumer behavior. Credit unions are consumers' champions. We're helping the people who need it most. We need to get louder."

courtesy of cuna.org