By Ray Birch
NASHVILLE—When natural disasters strike, such as hurricanes and wildfires, credit unions are always first to respond to help members and communities get back on their feet. But who is standing by to help when financial disasters arrive due to a life-changing cancer diagnosis?
A few credit unions across the nation have started programs that help members who have been diagnosed with cancer successfully handle the financial challenges that come with their condition. In addition to other features, the programs suspend loan payments during members’ cancer treatments and drop loan rates to 0% until members get back on their feet—physically and financially.
But the programs’ biggest benefit is that outcomes from the cancer treatments are improved since patients are not stressing over financial matters.
Ron Smith, CEO of $80-million Enbright Credit Union here, which offers what it calls the Cancer Debt Relief Program, spoke with CUToday.info about the need for its service.
Two other credit unions— Community FCU in Plymouth, Mich., and New Orleans Firemen’s FCU—offer similar programs.
Smith said he learned about the concept during a Tennessee CU League conference in 2024.
Smith took the concept to his board of directors, who then signed off on the program. Enbright then worked with the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, which reviewed the program to ensure it did not impact the credit union’s safety and soundness.
“They determined it did not,” Smith said.
Program Benefits
- Loan Payment Relief: Members can pause payments and interest on secured and unsecured loans for up to 12 months based on their treatment and recovery needs.
- Tailored Solutions: A zero-interest Cancer Care Loan offers additional flexibility to support ongoing recovery.
- Personalized Support: Members work closely with dedicated Cancer Care Specialists and Member Experience Advisors to navigate their financial challenges.
The newly released program is offered in six, 12 and 18 month stages.
“I expect we’ll see members, who get diagnosed with cancer, stop in and tell us they don’t know what to do about their loans with us. They expect they might have to surrender their vehicle,” Smith explained. “We’ll tell them we are not going to let that happen. We're going to work with you on this because you've got to get to your cancer treatments, go to your doctor visits…”
Members who enroll in the program must first bring a confirmation letter from their doctor to the CU that says they have cancer.
“We're not going to keep anything on file due to HIPAA. But we want to see something on your doctor's letterhead telling us what your diagnosis is,” Smith said. “Then, we'll go ahead and pause your payments for six months. We will set your interest rate to 0% for those six months. Then we ask you to meet with one of our financial counselors to help you assemble a budget. We’ll also do financial counseling work with them.”
Between months five and six, members will need to bring another statement from their doctor stating where they are with their course of treatments and their current diagnosis.
“If you still need more time, we’ll go for another six months,” said Smith. “We’ll continue helping you with your budget, keeping you on track, so your bills are getting paid. This goes for our automobile loans, credit cards, unsecured loans…We’ll do this for everything except a first mortgage, because we do not offer first mortgages.”
At the end of months 11 or 12, Enbright asks members to sit down with the CU again, bringing another doctor's note stating where they are with their treatments.
“If you’re cancer free, great. But if you need another couple months, we’ll push the program out,” Smith said. “Bottom line, we work with each member, out to 18 months. We also work with the member to make sure they are back on track, have a job, and are in a good financial position. It really becomes a program tailored to each individual—we do what we need to do to make sure each individual is able to begin repaying their loans.”
Enbright Employee Enrolled
Enbright began offering its Cancer Debt Relief Program in the last 60 days and has one staff member, Yvonne, enrolled.
“She is finishing up her cancer treatments,” Smith said. “She received her last round of chemo not too long ago. She’s in that 12-18 month period, where we're working with her on her budgets. We've dropped her interest rates on the two loans she has with us to zero and her payments have been pushed out.”
Enbright recently began advertising the program on its website and promoting it to members.
“Unfortunately, we have to have some stopgaps in this—measures to protect the credit union,” Smith said. “The member has to have the loan for six months and be a member for a year. Those rules are not written in stone, as we will offer this program on a case-by-case basis, because sometimes you can't predict a person’s situation. What we want to prevent is people coming in, joining the credit union, and 30 days later saying they have cancer. Unfortunately, fraud happens, and we have to be cognizant of it.”
Smith explained that currently the credit union’s program will remain focused on cancer patients.
“We're not going to move this to other illnesses right now. We started with cancer patients because that is the biggest need we saw among any catastrophic illness,” Smith said.
According to the American Cancer Society, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers, over two million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2025 and more than 618,000 people will die from the disease—the equivalent of about 1,700 deaths per day.
Smith told CUToday.info that someday he sees the program serving dozens of members a year.
“I really can’t make projections, but this is a forever program,” he explained. “Of course, at 0% interest, this does not make money for the credit union. But we are here for our members first and in the long term the credit union will be paid back in many ways.”
Helping cancer patients keep their car is a key element of the program, Smith said.
“How are they going to get back and forth to their cancer treatments without their car? How is that going to work out—always asking a neighbor or friend to drive you to the hospital? Or pay for an Uber every time? They can’t afford that,” he said.
And, there is the added benefit of improved response to treatment and improved recovery, Smith said.
Stress Levels Drop
“The medical scoring index, known as the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity, shows when a cancer treatment patient gets financial debt relief like this, their stress level drops exponentially, which helps them recover better and faster,” Smith explained. “They are not worried about filing for bankruptcy, or how they will pay for their car. They are simply not worried about the financial side of their problem anymore and can focus on getting better.”
Smith said not only has the state regulator approved the program, but so have Enbright’s members.
“We keep hearing back from our members that they appreciate what the credit union is offering to Enbright members if they were to someday get cancer,” Smith said. “They also like that we are helping other members this way. It says a great deal about credit unions, they tell us. And they know this—you won’t see any banks offering the same thing, not anything close.”
Smith added that a number of other credit unions across the nation have been reaching out to him, asking about the program.
“This is a financial disaster that touches almost everyone in some way,” Smith pointed out. “Maybe you’re a cancer survivor. Maybe you know people who have won their battle with cancer, and those who have not. Maybe cancer has unfortunately taken the life of someone you love. You see it at sporting events, when people participate in Stand Up To Cancer—everyone in the stadium is standing, some crying, holding a sign for someone they know or love. I’ve got a tattoo on my arm of a friend who died from leukemia.
“As credit unions we are standing up for our members,” concluded Smith. “We are helping them fight their way back not only from a financial disaster but from a life-threating condition. This is what credit unions do. This is what credit unions are about. This is why we are different. You won’t see this at any other type of financial institution.”