NCUA Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman shared his perspective on a variety of topics during a Q&A with America’s Credit Unions’ Ann Petros at the 2024 Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) Wednesday, including that he doesn’t support third-party vendor authority for the NCUA nor creating a “mini CFPB” at the agency.
Hauptman stressed the real-world consequences of eliminating access to programs such as overdraft, noting that “the people that make these rules don’t live in this world” of struggling to make ends meet and having to make difficult financial decisions daily.
The duo’s conversation started with exam reforms, with Hauptman explaining extended exam cycles for well-run credit unions aligns incentives for both the NCUA and individual institutions.
“Why not focus on the ones that have more issues, focus our time, and let the other ones that have got no issues have more time. If you’ve earned that longer cycle, you want to keep it…Everybody’s incentives are aligned here, there’s not really a tradeoff, we’re just better allocating our time.”
Petros also asked Hauptman about financial inclusion efforts, and Hauptman made clear that “credit unions know their members” and it shouldn’t be up to the NCUA to tell credit unions how to meet those needs, but to provide the appropriate framework to do so safely.
Hauptman extended that sentiment to innovation and investing in fintech.
“Credit unions existed and innovated even before the NCUA existed…even before the Federal Credit Union Act. The main thing is, you want credit unions to be able to work with the innovators.”
America’s Credit Unions’ 2024 GAC concludes today as attendees continue to meet with lawmakers directly on Capitol Hill. This week in Washington, D.C., nearly 6,000 credit union advocates came together for the first time as America’s Credit Unions to tout the credit union difference and elevate industry priorities.
Access coverage from the full event online, or follow #GAC2024 on social media.
