Credit Unions Have a Public Awareness Problem, And This Coalition Wants to Solve It

The more than 4,400 federally insured credit unions in the United States hold just over $2.3 trillion in assets and serve more than 142 million members, according to the National Credit Union Administration. Though credit union assets pale in comparison to the over $24 trillion in assets the nation’s commercial banks reported at the end of 2024, credit unions typically offer higher yields on savings accounts, lower fees, and lower loan rates compared to banks. They also serve populations and communities often overlooked by the banking industry. But much of the public is unaware of their efforts.

Acting on the age-old premise of strength in numbers, 12 credit unions in 10 states formed the Backbone coalition to bolster and protect the important role they play in the U.S.

“We were started during the Great Depression when people needed to come together to have a place they could count on to save their money and for people to have a trusted place to take out loans,” Backbone leader Tansley Stearns told TriplePundit. “What we've heard very clearly is there’s a lot of economic pain happening across the country, and unfortunately, [credit unions] haven’t done a great job of sharing our story.”

As a result, many people aren’t aware of what credit unions do, said Stearns, who is also president and CEO of Community Financial Credit Union in Michigan. 

“Being able to come together and make sure that we beat that drum and share that story is really important so we can create more impact, which is what we were designed to do,” Stearns said. “It’s all about storytelling. We have so many exceptional stories every single day from credit unions around the country.” 

Stearns cited the example of coalition member Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union in South Carolina, which offered to open a branch in Whitmire to serve the small town of 1,400 people after the only bank in the community suddenly closed.

“Those are the kinds of stories that I think really connect with human beings,” Stearns said. “In a very crowded media cycle, being able to talk about the impact that credit unions make for human beings is the way that we break through.”

That’s just one example of how credit unions serve underserved communities. Setting up branches in low-to-moderate income communities is a part of the operations strategy for FourLeaf Federal Credit Union in New York, said Linda Armyn, president and CEO of FourLeaf, which was previously known as Bethpage Federal Credit Union.

“Some of our locations are often less saturated with banks. In some instances, a credit union is the only financial institution,” Armyn said. “Nineteen percent of our branches are in low-to-moderate income communities.”

FourLeaf is applying with the State of New York to designate a business development district in a low-income community with no other financial institutions, Armyn said. “This process offers incentives from the state to builders and other businesses to open in the area,” she said.

Credit unions are not-for-profit, member-owned financial cooperatives, so they are well-positioned to prioritize their members' needs over profits, said Brandon Michaels, president and CEO of Arizona-based OneAZ Credit Union. 

“Because we're owned by the members we serve, we are hyper-focused on doing what is best for our membership and communities, not shareholders in another state,” Michaels said. “This unique structure allows us to offer loans, products and services — and even build branches that may not generate the most profit or make the best financial sense — because we don't have a profit mandate.” 

That stance also allows them to take on more expenses.“Our expense ratios tend to be higher than banks because we are investing in our membership,” Armyn said.

Backbone is also working to dispel the perception that credit unions are behind the curve in providing consumer-friendly technologies to serve their members, Community Financial’s Stearns said.

“One of the ways that credit unions are frequently doing that is through [financial technology] partnerships, partnering with organizations that are developing digital technology and being able to bring that into our organizations,” Stearns said. “Sometimes credit unions may not have the resources to do that on their own, but through partnerships, can do so in a way that answers our members’ needs and ensures we also continue to have that investment in personalized service.”

In fact, 76 percent of credit unions plan to increase their budgets for technology, according to the market research company Emarketer. And credit unions overall are allocating more of their budgets to data analysis and automation than banks.

Looking ahead, the coalition's progress depends upon communications, collaboration and growth, Steans said.

“We’re really enthusiastic to be able to have 12 of us marching forward, and we hope that there are even more over time,” Stearns said. “The really interesting thing about the financial cooperative model is that when we grow, we can bring even more value back to every member who started with us.”