Business View Magazine | October 2020

70 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 AT A GLANCE NEWYORK CREDIT UNION ASSOCIATION WHAT: The trade association for New York credit unions WHERE: Albany, NY WEBSITE: www.nycua.org NEW YORK credit union association A s the world stopped moving at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York’s credit unions pushed on. As New Yorkers were laid off, furloughed, and facing an uncertain financial future, the state’s credit unions found new and innovative ways to continue providing critical financial services. In many ways, the coronavirus pandemic is a microcosm of the New York credit union industry as a whole; as the industry is bombarded with changes and outside disruption, credit unions have been forced to adapt, never losing sight of their cooperative foundations and commitment to member service. For the uninitiated, credit unions can seem like a confusing notion. While the products, services and technology credit unions provide are similar to consumer banks, credit unions have members, not customers. As cooperatives, their members are part owners. They don’t issue stock, and their boards of directors are elected by the membership and serve on a volunteer basis. And then there is the idea of membership. Who can join? Is the credit union an exclusive club? Can I belong to any credit union? Fortunately, the answers are not all that complicated. As membership-based organizations, credit union members are generally required to hold a “common bond.” That bond might be where the members work or worship; it could be a bond of an association or group they belong to; or it could simply be where they live. So, while it’s not accurate to say every person can join every credit union, it is accurate to say there’s a credit union for every person. ADVOCAT I NG , EDUCAT I NG , UN I T I NG , AND SUPPORT I NG