WASHINGTON—The Defense Credit Union Council is pushing back against the American Bankers Association’s recent survey and policy recommendations, calling the ABA’s criticisms of credit unions “misleading” and part of a broader effort to chip away at the credit union model.
In a detailed letter to congressional banking leaders, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak said the ABA’s argument that federal credit unions should be required to file IRS Form 990 is unfounded, noting that FCUs are government instrumentalities with no income tax liability and already submit quarterly NCUA call reports containing “thousands of data points”—far exceeding what Form 990 requires.
Stverak wrote that forcing credit unions to complete Form 990 would “duplicate existing disclosures while imposing unnecessary administrative costs,” ultimately reducing resources available for member service. He added that the push is not coming from regulators or consumers, but from bank trade groups seeking to undermine the credit union tax exemption and “chip away at credit unions’ public-purpose model.”
He also highlighted the banking industry’s own tax advantages—particularly Subchapter S status—and argued that banks operate with far less transparency regarding how those tax benefits are used.
DCUC’s letter also challenges the ABA’s survey findings, calling them based on an “uninformed sample,” and notes that Congress has repeatedly upheld the CU tax exemption. Stverak pointed to credit unions’ strong performance during crises—including rapid relief efforts during the October 2025 shutdown—as evidence that the CU model continues to serve the public interest.
Stverak emphasized that his letter does not claim that every credit union is perfect or that banks never do anything commendable.
"Many banks do step up in charitable ways at times. But the pattern is clear and rooted in structural differences: a bank’s first duty is to its shareholders’ bottom line, whereas a credit union’s first duty is to its member-owners’ financial well-being," he wrote. "That difference tends to become stark during times of economic stress. Congress foresaw this dynamic when it created credit unions and granted them a tax status to bolster their community focus. We urge you to remember these concrete outcomes when evaluating the ABA’s claims. The banking lobby’s narrative omits the context that the banking industry, despite its vastly greater size and profit, was not the one offering to waive fees or cut interest rates for ordinary Americans on the verge of hardship – the not-for-profit credit unions were."
Read the full letter here.