Be Informed and Get Involved with Connect for the Cause
Connect for the Cause (click here to visit the website) is a free web-based network that alerts you when Congress or the State Legislature is about to vote on or consider legislation which would affect Credit Unions. It not only keeps you informed, but allows you to quickly send your elected officials a message.
Speak Up for Your Credit Union
 |
The not-for-profit Credit Union movement is regularly attacked by the banking and retail industries. If they get their way, many of the benefits that you enjoy as a member of SF Fire Credit Union could disappear – but you can help us fight back.
February 2010 Update: Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) Launches Grassroots Campaign to Block Credit Union Friendly Legislation
Congress is very close to creating a massive “jobs” bill to address high unemployment rates. Credit Unions have been working with Congress to offer a taxpayer free solution to this problem, but have hit a road block from banks.
Currently, Credit Unions are arbitrarily capped in making small business loans at 12.25% of their total assets. If Congress extended this cap to 25%, Credit Unions could create approximately $10 billion in economic growth (and over 108,000 jobs) in the first year of lending – an economic stimulus that doesn’t cost the taxpayer a dime.
Banks have gone to great lengths to stop Congress from adding this provision to the new “jobs” bll. They continue to make outrageous claims that Credit Unions are not “fit” to handle business lending or that raising the cap will only help a few Credit Unions – an that Credit Unions will not help America’s struggling small businesses. Please take action today and tell Congress to support jobs creation – by supporting Credit Unions!
Pending Issues: Retailers Want to Cap Interchange Fees They Pay to Credit Unions
Congress is considering legislation which would cap the interchange fee that a Credit Union recieves from retailers when you use the Credit Union’s debit or credit card to make purchases. Major national retailers such as Wal-Mart and 7-Eleven have been actively misleading Congress into thinking that interchange fees are simply “another bank fee”. The fact is that if interchange fees paid by retailers were reduced and could no longer support card programs, members could end up paying more to use debit and credit cards – or worse – some Credit Unions might no longer be able to offer cards at all.