ARLINGTON, Va.–A proposal to have credit unions made the partner financial institutions in any plan by the Postal Service to provide banking services is intriguing, but a better bet is to grant expanded powers to CUs to serve underserved areas, according to NAFCU.
As CUToday.info reported here, the Defense CU Council has called for a “no-nonsense credit union solution” for serving the unbanked and underbanked via the U.S. Postal Service. The DCUC is proposing that credit unions be the financial services solution behind any postal banking effort, not a large bank, should the concept ever become reality, as some in Congress have called for.
Carrie Hunt, EVP and General Counsel with NAFCU, said that, certainly, were banking services via the Post Office ever to become a reality, the trade group would support credit unions being a fully participating partner, but that would include having to resolve questions around service to non-members.
“That said, we do not think that the postal service offering banking services to the underbanked is the right answer,” said Hunt.
Instead, the better answer is expanded authority for credit unions to serve those markets, she said.
Position on Swipe Fees
Separately, Hunt said NAFCU has been monitoring a decision by Visa and Mastercard to delay an estimated $1.2 billion increase in credit card swipe fees. The nation’s merchants have hailed the decision.
The bigger issue, said Hunt, is that merchants are still not held to data security standards or regulations, and that fraud continues to “increase, increase, increase.”
“Certainly merchants need to do their part,” said Hunt, referencing the data breaches that continue to take place. “Merchants are not a part of (data security laws and standards). It’s a power grab by the merchants to build their profits.”