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Econ trends explored at A.C.
Economic trends and how they could affect credit unions' bottom lines were discussed Thursday at NAFCU's 52nd Annual Conference and Solutions Expo. NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long led a panel discussion with members of the Credit Union Economics Group (CUEG), and a number of other sessions also explored these topics.
Long was joined by Scott Knapp of CUNA Mutual Group and Fred Eisel of Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union. Long offered insights to a number of economic indicators – including wage growth, consumer sentiment, loan delinquencies and inflation – and the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee's (FOMC) decision-making process. Knapp explained market trends and its reactions to the Fed's policy decisions. Eisel wrapped up the session detailing how changes to interest rates – specifically an unexpected rate cut – could impact credit unions' budgets, loan demand and share loss.
In addition to the CUEG panel, Bricklin Dwyer from Mastercard also explored economic trends credit union should be aware of during Thursday's general session. He noted how weather is affecting apparel sales – which Long also commented on when discussing inflation – and the potential impact ongoing trade disputes could have on the economy.
Other sessions Thursday that explored these issues:
Payments improvement: Tim Boike from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago updated attendees on the Fed's ongoing efforts to make the payments system faster and more secure. Boike said the Fed received more than 400 comments and 300 form letters on its proposal to develop a 24/7/365 real-time gross settlement service. In its comment letter on the proposal, NAFCU shared how credit unions could benefit from faster payments services. The association remains engaged with the Fed and other stakeholders on payments system developments.
Auto lending: Open Lending's Matt Roe offered tips for credit unions to capture more of the auto lending market and how they can competitively price these loans with a risk-based approach. While there are some challenges in this space, Roe outlined a number of benefits, including increased profitability, enhanced member relationships, attracting new members and serving the underserved.
Retirement plans: Jim Waggoner and Jacinta Thompson from VisionPoint explained how credit unions can measure the reasonableness factor of their retirement plans. They reviewed laws governing this provision, litigation risks and more.
NAFCU's Annual Conference and Solutions Expo, sponsored by Mastercard, concludes today. For up-to-date coverage of the conference, follow #NAFCUAnnual on Twitter.
Next year's event is scheduled June 23-26 in Vancouver; register now and save $200 with code VANCOUVER. Code expires July 19.