Nussle: Credit unions respond with unified front against continued bank attacks
Eliminating the credit union tax status would not only be detrimental to members, but all consumers, America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote in CUInsight Tuesday. With banks continuing to push for taxing credit unions this week in Washington, D.C., during their scheduled fly-in, Nussle cited recent data showing devastating effects for credit unions and the entire economy should that happen.
He cited the independent study commissioned by America’s Credit Unions, showing that a 50% reduction in the credit union market share would cost bank customers an estimated $11.9 billion to $22.8 billion per year in higher loan rates and lower deposit rates.
Banks’ recent pivot to call for only taxing “large” credit unions is especially disappointing, Nussle added, as this targets military members and families, who account for more than 50% of all members in the largest credit unions.
“The credit union tax status has nothing to do with a credit union’s size, but everything to do with credit unions’ mission of people helping people. Banks, which need to make money off of every customer for shareholder returns, conveniently leave out that more than 1/4 of them are exempt from taxes with Subchapter S status,” he wrote. “Unlike credit unions—which return the savings from their tax status to their members and communities through lower cost services and better rates on loans—studies have shown banks overlook consumers and put that money in their Wall Street investors’ pockets.