McMorris outlines CU challenges

LAS VEGAS (6/5/07)--"This premiere credit union conference has a new name with a lot of new energy, and the 1,500 people here have helped us set a 10-year attendance record," said Allan Kemp McMorris, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Board chairman, at yesterday's opening General Session of America's Credit Union Conference and Expo.

The CUNA-sponsored ACUC&E is meeting in Las Vegas through Wednesday.

McMorris challenged attendees to roll up their sleeves and tackle one of the most serious issues facing the credit union movement today--membership growth. After enjoying decades of strong membership growth, average annual growth since the year 2000 has slipped to 1.9%.

Summarizing the challenge credit unions face attracting Generation Y, McMorris noted that these consumers typically don't consolidate their financial business with one institution, but instead use about three different providers.

"Our challenge is to make sure credit unions are among their choices and become their primary financial institution," McMorris said. "To help us accomplish that, I asked Dick Ensweiler [president of the Texas Credit Union League] to chair a task force on membership growth, and that task force will be meeting for the first time at this conference."

McMorris also referred to the work of another task force—the Financial Literacy Task Force—that is meeting for the first time at this conference. Former CUNA Chairman Juri Valdov is chairing the task force. "All members can benefit from financial literacy, especially Gen Y," said McMorris.

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