WASHINGTON—As thousands of credit union leaders get ready to Hike the Hill today, the American Bankers Association has introduced a new advertising campaign targeting large CUs.
The campaign highlights what the ABA alleges are large credit union “bank buying sprees,” “splashy stadium names,” and “uncommon bonds.”
The new campaign continues the banking industry’s increasingly aggressive attacks on credit unions over the last year, a topic CUToday.info has extensively covered.
The ABA Banking Journal stated the new ads are part of the trade group’s “ongoing efforts to educate policymakers and the public about large credit unions’ abuse of their tax exemption.”
The campaign is part of the ABA’s Explore Credit Unions campaign and website. The ABA Banking Journal said the ads are designed to highlight “how large credit unions have lost their way.”
Where Ads Are Appearing
The ads are appearing in Politico’s Morning Money newsletter and on digital and social media platforms. The ads “highlight several ways that large credit unions have far exceeded their statutory mission to serve individuals of modest means—from buying up taxpaying banks to purchasing naming rates to sports stadiums. They also call for a reexamination of the tax exemptions for these institutions,” the publication noted.
The campaign will also feature new blog posts highlighting the ways credit unions have “outgrown their special treatment,” the ABA Banking Journal said.