Payment Industry Insider

There’s a lot of talk going on today - talk about recession and to a lesser degree inflation, talk about the government funded stimulus payment (actually, if you think about it, we’re just paying ourselves), talk about credit and debt, talk (again to a lesser degree) about savings (now there’s a novel idea).

Another new word starting to get a little traction is THRIFT. Note a recent article in CUNA’s News Now titled, “Washington Post writer: CU’s great for promoting thirft”. How interesting that one of the tenets that credit unions were founded on should have been lost and now is found. And timely, too.

There are a lot of things that credit unions have done that promote thrift. We’re already doing them and always have. But many credit unions seem to have grown a little weary. They’re tired of seeing members shift their business elsewhere.

But take heart! It’s not that credit unions are doing anything wrong or are out of step with the needs of our members. Consumers are out of step with prudent financial behavior. They’ve lost sight of what got us (our society) to the success we enjoy in our country.

Maybe it takes hard times to remind us to pay attention. Unbridled success tends to lead to complacency.

Credit unions are getting a lot of favorable press right now - across the land. We can’t grow weary in doing the good things we have always done. Now is the time to rise up with renewed vigor and promote the credit union philosophy. I think consumers are looking for some good answers from someone they can trust. We are that someone!