THE feature

CHICAGO—A federal judge Monday permanently blocked Illinois from enforcing key portions of its Interchange Fee Prohibition Act against national banks and payment card networks, a major development in the legal fight over the first-of-its-kind swipe-fee law, but one that still leaves credit unions and Illinois chartered banks without direct court protection from the law’s core interchange-fee restrictions.

NEW YORK—Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming consumer lending fraud from an operational headache into what one industry research firm is calling a potential existential threat for financial institutions, as increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes overwhelm traditional controls and force lenders—including credit unions—to rethink how they evaluate borrowers.

MADISON, Wis.—When CUES began rethinking its consulting business, the goal wasn’t simply to offer more leadership coaching or executive assessments. Instead, the organization concluded many credit unions needed something deeper: help understanding how the entire organization functions together—and where the systems connecting people, departments and leadership teams may be breaking down.

KENSINGTON, Md.—The “ghost car” may sound like an old-school dealership trick, but consumer advocates, regulators and auto retail analysts warn the tactic is evolving in the digital era in ways that could create fresh risks for borrowers—and for the credit unions financing their purchases.

ATLANTA—Auto lenders are heading into the second half of 2026 facing a sharply divided market in which rising borrower stress, record subprime delinquencies and persistent affordability pressures are colliding with unusually strong used-vehicle values that continue to prop up collateral performance, according to the new Black Book-Fitch Vehicle Depreciation Report.

MILWAUKEE—At a time when the credit union industry continues to wrestle with consolidation, aging memberships and questions about how many new cooperatives can realistically still be launched from scratch, Corporate Central has quietly taken a step that executives there believe could help seed the next generation of credit unions before they even officially exist.

WASHINGTON—NCUA has quietly advanced an interim final rule clarifying federal credit unions’ authority over “non-interest charges and fees,” a move some expect to become the agency’s response to Illinois’ controversial Interchange Fee Prohibition Act and one that closely mirrors recent preemption actions taken by the OCC on behalf of national banks.