Defending and Debunking Credit Unions’ Tax Status
Our second wave of interviews from the recent Governmental Affairs Conference features Glen’s interviews with company founders Paul Fiore (CU WealthNext) and Kian Sarrashteh (InvestiFi), plus Candescent’s new Chief Product Officer Gareth Gaston on digital banking lessons to be gleaned from fields like travel.
A Pivotal (Sub)Chapter in Credit Union History
The term “existential threat” has been coming up a bit too often for comfort- and this time it may not be hyperbole.
Following the Smart Money at GAC
Our second wave of interviews from the recent Governmental Affairs Conference features Glen’s interviews with company founders Paul Fiore (CU WealthNext) and Kian Sarrashteh (InvestiFi), plus Candescent’s new Chief Product Officer Gareth Gaston on digital banking lessons to be gleaned from fields like travel.
GAC Takeaways: Tax Exemption, Interchange, the CFPB and NCUA
Record-setting attendance of more than 6,000 is a nice headline, but it only begins to convey the story. Last week’s Governmental Affairs Conference featured heightened levels of energy and urgency that transcended badge counts- and not for entirely happy reasons.
A Taxing Week in Washington
Glen recaps an action-packed Government Affairs Conference, featuring our annual interview with America’s Credit Unions’ Economics Team on the coming year’s outlook. An “existential threat” to the industry’s income tax exemption headlined a packed agenda, but the CFPB, NCUA and interchange legislation were also on the menu- not to mention tariff whiplash and market uncertainty.
The Sky’s the Limit for Credit Union Communication
Glen quizzes John about his initiative leveraging social media app BlueSky’s open source architecture to create a moderated, inclusive platform for credit union dialogue and experimentation. Also- threading the needle at the Governmental Affairs Conference.
Zelle Hits a Trillion, Same Day ACH Says “Hold My Beer”
A flurry of year-end data provided valuable insight on the state of faster payments in the US and prompted some organizational chest-thumping. It also breathes new life into the question, “how fast is fast enough?”
Bringing Loans out of the Lab
Glen speaks with DePaul University professor and financial innovation expert Lamont Black about his recent work on a blockchain-based secondary loan market to unlock credit union liquidity and reduce costs. Also- Chase tries to keep Zelle in the “friends and family,” and 2024 payment stats beg the question “how fast is fast enough?”
2025 Predictions: A Bingo Card for the Ages
May you live in interesting times…. John and Glen join with Anne Legg and John Janclaes to speculate on the big events poised to frame the coming year. Our panel foresees the best of times and worst of times for AI, a flurry of mergers, breakthroughs in mortgage lending, and regulatory roulette. Oh, and our annual disagreement on Bitcoin and crypto.
Scams, Grievances and the Enduring Value of Trust
Glen shares a pair of interviews from last week’s Deluxe Exchange conference- Scamnetic co-founder Al Pascual on a startup’s mission to preempt fraud earlier in the pipeline, and Deidre Campbell on a few financial services silver linings amid troubling data from the annual Edelman Trust Barometer. Also- Bingo cards and the CFPB carousel.