WASHINGTON–During 2023 the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) said it will be celebrating its 60th anniversary of championing the interests of credit unions serving the armed forces and veterans worldwide.
“For 60 years, DCUC’s close working relationships with the Department of Defense, Capitol Hill, and NCUA have delivered impactful results to its credit unions,” the organization said. “This dedication has allowed them to provide the best financial services to our nation’s military, veterans, and their families.”
Since its inception, DCUC said its overall goal has remained the same: serving those who serve our country.
“Whether it’s proactively advocating for regulatory or legislative matters, guiding decisions on strategic or operational issues, or improving policy and procedures, DCUC’s history reflects a mission centered on serving others,” the Defense Council added.
Recognizing the Need
DCUC first began under CUNA in 1963 when “credit union leaders recognized a need for a separate entity to address challenges credit unions regularly faced while serving our military and their families,” the organization explained. “To keep the financial needs of service men and women in the forefront, these credit unions needed a way to communicate with the Pentagon regularly and effectively. The formation of DCUC was the answer to filling that need.”
In that same year, DCUC held its first annual conference from Sept. 17-19 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington where from 87 delegates from defense credit unions attended and selected its first slate of officers.
Strong Growth Among Members
“Defense credit unions have always had a significant voice within the whole credit union industry,” DCUC said. “In 1963, defense credit unions had 1,327,690 members and $535.2 million in assets. This was about 11% of the national credit union movement at the time. Today, there are more than 33 million members with over $480-billion in assets. These numbers continue to grow every day, currently representing about 25% of the total industry.”
The organization is currently led by President/CEO Anthony Hernandez. It has continued to expand its focus to include community-based credit unions whose field of memberships includes military members, even if they are not operating on a military installation, DCUC said.
‘Improving Value Proposition’
“DCUC remains focused on improving our value proposition for each of our members. We fully recognize our role in the industry as we represent nearly a quarter of the industry and are twice as large as any league,” said Hernandez. “Our 60th anniversary is the perfect time to recommit and strengthen DCUC’s voice in representing the interests of military and veteran communities, which are a large and important part of the fabric of our nation.”
DCUC will host its 60th Annual Conference at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo. Aug. 7-11. For info, go here.
Still Free in ’23! The Freshest CU Headlines. Right to Your Inbox.
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free in ’23! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more.
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?