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About 4.7 million homes sold in the US in 2024.

Does that sound like a dead market?

On the show today is James White of Total Expert which provides tools to help credit unions more efficiently close mortgages. What Total Expert offers is a powerful CRM for loan officers that automates much of the process.

Also on the show is Zachary Short, vice president of mortgage production at Utah Community Credit Union, with assets over $3 billion.

Short’s team are satisfied users of the Total Expert tools and he tells why.

The message of this episode is plain: although some institutions have walked away from the mortgage business, others - like UCCU - are prospering because they know homes are still selling and people need mortgages.

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This is the weather report from GAC, last week’s credit union confab in Washington DC. On the show to report on key developments is Sarah Snell Cooke, former editor in chief and publisher of Credit Union Times and now a consultant to credit unions' business partners.

The big question at GAC was: is this really the end of the credit union federal tax exemption?

Also on the agenda was what’s the impact of staff reduction - a la DOGE - on NCUA? Can the regulator adequately perform with significantly reduced staff?

Which leads to the big question: will NCUA be merged into another agency?

As for that last point: Cooke’s firmly held opinion is that if NCUA is merged into another agency this will spell the end of credit unions as we know them. That’s a gloomy prognosis but Cooke explains on the show why she believes it.

On the show too she predicts that that demolition of NCUA won’t happen.

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Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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Can a $350 million credit union play in the big leagues? Don’t tell Christine Blake, CEO of $350 million Cardinal Credit Union in Ohio, that she can’t. Because she is.

A few years ago Cardinal signed on as the official credit union of the Cleveland Browns, one of the historic football teams dating back to 1946. Yes, the Browns have had a few rough years recently but this is a team with real history.

And an enthusiastic fan base in Cleveland, said Blake.

On the show she tells how she made the agreement with the Browns and what it means for the credit union.

She also tells about Cardinal’s Lil Brownies card which helps children learn about finances.

But she’s on the show with big news about an innovative Professional Sports Team Credit Union Executive Summit where credit unions with relationships with pro sports teams will come together for three days of meetings in San Francisco, March 19-21 Among the presenters along with Cardinal are ENT - the official credit union of the Denver Broncos - and Northwest Financial Federal Credit Union which has a relationship with the Washington Commanders.

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Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

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Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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Cliff Rosenthal literally wrote the book on CDFIs, community development financial institutions. Hear his story in this podcast that dates back to 2019, episode 37 in the vaults.

Rosenthal was on the show last year - episode 311 - talking about a new book he co-authored with Michael McCray entitled Community Capital. It’s part Rosenthal autobiography, part the sgtory of the death - the murder? - of an African AMerican credit union. Hard hitting stuff.

But the story starts here, in episode 37 and it now is our Greatest Hit #24

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Here’s the money question for you to ponder: : should you close that branch on Third Street and open a new branch in a neighboring town? Keep in mind that the ballpark cost of opening a new branch is $2.5 million. As for costs in a branch closure there always are some and there also may be remember losses. How to do the math?

Meet Steven Reider, president of Bancography - that’s the company that won best in show at Finovate fall 2024 for its Bancography Plan software tool that helps a credit union alanalyze branch closings and openings and also possible mergers.

Decisions that had been made based upon gut instinct now can be supported with analytical data.

How hard is Bancography Plan to use? It’s so easy, said Reider, even a CEO can use it.

As I tell Reider in the early moments of the show I’d never heard of such a tool before combing upon a Bancgraphy press release. But I knew when I read it I had to geet this guy on the show.

Oh…the costs are surprisingly affordable.

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Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

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Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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Call this your must listen podcastg before GAC.

Because in this show you will be hearing explicit advice about your CAC 2025 to do.

Here's what is at stake: the credit union tax exmption on the future of NCUA.

Will credit unions lose their federal tax exemption? Will NCUA be shuffled into a couple desks in the basement of the Treasury Department?

Issues of monumental importance to the credit union movement are actively under discussion in Washington DC and longtime credit union lobbyist John McKechnie is on the showto report on the latest rumblings on Capitol Hill.

The big takeaway from this show: these issues very much are on the table in today's Washington DC

On the date of this recording - February 18 - McKechnie expressed optimism about credit unions retaining their tax exemption.

But he also stressed that what will be needed to win this fight is a concerted action by many, many credit union people to get the message across that to keep doing the valuable work credit unions do they need to keep that tax free status.

That means put on your shoes and get busy walking the Hill.

And be ready to walk it not just during GAC but in the weeks and months afterwards because, stresses McKechnie, relationships with members and staffers on the Hill are forged via repeat contacts.

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If I told you I have a podcast where a credit union executive tells you about high rates on CDs, free checking, and super cheap new car loans, how quickly would you turn the dial and give a listen to Joe Rogan?

Right, you know the answer.

So I will tell you what I really have is a fascinating podcast with Josh Rodriguez at West Community Credit Union in Missouri, an institution approaching a half billion in assets.

That’s because Rodriguez is doing things I’ve never heard about at credit unions.

But keep in mind on LinkedIn he identifies himself as Innovator/CU Professional/Storyteller.

I met Rodriguez at the CU 2.0 Live event in Arizona in June and when he told me he is a storyteller I knew I had to get him on this show. I had never before encountered a credit union executive who said he/she is a storyteller.

And you know…stories are the most powerful form of communication.

In this show, Rodriguez talks about why stories are so potent, he also talks about a creative content package he has developed to help West Community’s employees better know the execs in the c-suite…and maybe also do some thinking about their own career development.

And then he drops the bomb that West Community has planned a series of podcasts where members will tell their stories about their relationship with the credit union. You have to hear how Rodriguez describes this project - and hear, too, the passionate excitement in his voice as he opens his playbook.

Here's the website for these shows http://bankingonyoupodcast.com/

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Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Send us a text

Keith Leggett is a name that used to provoke cursing by usually mild mannered credit union executives - and so here he is again in a CU 2.0 Golden Oldies podcast.

Leggett has retired from the American Bankers Association, where he was chief economist, and he also has put -30- on his Credit Union Watch blog but this show from the archives is well worth a listen in 2025 because it focuses on credit union - bank mergers and also on credit union tax exemption. Two issues that are even bigger headlines now.

In the show we discuss Maine Harvest, an innovative credit union idea that alas merged with Five County Credit Union in 2022.

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