Pub. 14 2019-2020 Issue 2

WWW.NEBANKERS.ORG 10 WASHINGTON UPDATE Rob Nichols, President & CEO, American Bankers Association F OR TOO LONG, BANKS WITH LEGITIMATE CONCERNS ABOUT unbridled credit union growth have been portrayed as Goliath picking onDavid. The truth is that inmany states, a credit union is one of the largest local financial institu- tions, outranking most of the state’s community banks in size. But rather than trying to convince policymakers or the public that central casting got it all wrong—that it’s big credit unions that are harming small banks—the ABA, with guidance from a long-standing banker Credit Union Task Force, has made a deliberate effort in the past two years to raise the level of aware- ness about credit union policy issues and excesses among third parties and the media. We believe this strategy is effectively reframing the debate from banks vs. credit unions to credit unions vs. taxpayers, a Reframing the Credit Union Debate