NCUA’s proposed budget lowers burden on credit unions

The NCUA's proposed budget for 2026 is 23 percent lower than 2025, which reduces the financial burden on credit unions, says America's Credit Unions Chief Economist and Vice President of Data and Research Curt Long in the latest Economic Update.

Departing from the trend

The NCUA's spending outpaced inflation for each of the last two years, even as the number of credit unions to regulate has declined.

"There are strong grounds for saying that with fewer institutions to supervise, the NCUA's budget should not be growing at all," says Long. "But even if you take the view that the agency's budget should just grow with inflation, that historical relationship broke down two years ago."

He also notes the NCUA's budget, proposed in September, returns spending to levels seen in 2019.

Line by line

Long emphasizes the big cuts of in spending, especially in supervision/examination and administrative offices. While some credit unions may be concerned about the sharp spending cuts in supervision and examination, the NCUA has cut that spending before. However, only a small cut was made to IT spending.

"Credit unions know all about the value of technology spending," says Long. "And there's no doubt that cyber threats are a real issue. So, it's perhaps not surprising to see only a mild curb of IT spending in 2026."

Lifting some weight off credit union shoulders

The NCUA's proposed budget would turn the clock back on credit unions, creating a financial burden similar to 2022. The burden on credit unions declined from 2020 to 2022. Although, Long remarks that much of the lowered burden came as credits from NCUA surplus funds.

"Those credits continued annually through 2025 but were swamped by growth in the overall budget, leading to increasing burdens on credit unions," he adds. "With the 2026 budget cuts, this idea of less burden doesn't have to rely on uncertain, one-time credits."

This proposed budget puts NUCA spending on a sustainable path, protects the Share Insurance Fund, and lowers the financial burden on credit unions.

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