ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

In Case You Missed It – 7.30.25

The word on new legislation, why your members are concerned about money, how to improve a board of directors and a potential new Turing test. Here’s what we noticed, in case you missed it:

Bill to support new CUs

Some interesting CU news from congress. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced the introduction of H.R. 4544, the “American Access to Banking Act.” Waters is the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and this bill is designed to promote the creation of new community banks and credit unions.

We’ve long been big fans and supporters of efforts to make it easier to start new (de novo) credit unions. We’ve even seen NCUA making some moves to streamline and modernize the de novo chartering process and remove barriers in order to increase access to financial services. It’s nice to see these issues getting some legislative attention, and we can’t help but think this issue could attract broad bipartisan support.

ROAD to Housing Act kicks off in the Senate

Speaking of legislation, a bipartisan bill to improve access to housing has been introduced in the US Senate by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, and committee Ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). It’s called “The ROAD to Housing Act of 2025” and contains a wide variety of policy and regulatory changes to expand the supply of housing and access to home ownership. The Act already has broad bipartisan support, so it’s well worth keeping an eye on its progress. Nice to see politicians actually working on real issues.

Anxiety-based service and marketing?

This thought-provoking article from our pals at The Financial Brand points out something that we hope is already obvious: consumers are really, really super-duper extra anxious about money right now. And that means they need advice, not sales pitches, and ways to confront and solve their immediate, real-world problems, or they’re jumping to the first fintech with a slick app-based solution.

A second very interesting thought is buried in there, too: “In an age of more mix-and-match financial relationships, becoming a consumer’s advice hub can be a new form of primacy.” Could it be we’re finally moving beyond Ye Olde Chekkyng Accounte as the real indicator of being a PFI (Primary Financial Institution)?

We’ve always advocated for real-life, real-world solutions, advice, and info on CU websites. CUs should be seen as a source of trusted advice for both tough times and good times.

How Everwise CU is building a better board

This article from Everwise CU CEO Jason Osterhage is a very interesting (and ongoing) case study in how one large ($5.4B) Indiana credit union is leveling up its leadership to drive growth. From term limits to compensation (allowed for state-chartered CUs in Indiana), accountability, long-term strategy, and building up a pipeline to the Board, they’re not afraid to have uncomfortable conversations and put in a lot of hard work.

It’s a great example of how an active, involved, and accountable Board of Directors can and should be every credit union’s secret weapon, not just a stale collection of rubber stamps who phone it in once a month. Make your Board of Directors cool and tap into more of that talent lurking in your membership.

A new Turing test?

According to ArsTechnica users of OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent, which can perform multistep tasks, noticed it was able to pass through Cloudflare’s anti-bot verification. You know, the little box you click that says “I am not a robot?” You can argue whether ChatGPT counts as a bot, but either way it seems like we might need a new way to verify that a user is human, soon.

Rather than cause AI-panic, this is an ironic real-world example of how technology is and always will be constantly changing. It’s important that credit unions stay informed and up-to-date to better protect their members.

AllofUs iDizians
Latest posts by AllofUs iDizians (see all)

Email this article to a friend or coworker.