WASHINGTON (5/22/15)--CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle took to the pages of Roll Call Thursday to refute the latest in bankers’ longstanding campaign of misinformation about credit unions.

In response to American Bankers Association President/CEO Frank Keating’s assertion that credit unions are “abusing” the tax code, Nussle demonstrated how credit unions’ structure confers billions of dollars in benefits to members and non-members.

“The credit union tax status benefits all consumers--credit union members and nonmembers alike--to the tune of $10 billion a year nationally because credit unions are fulfilling their special mission to serve Americans,” Nussle wrote. “Credit unions take that mission seriously. That’s one of the reasons not-for-profit financial institutions approve 64% of mortgage applications from low and moderate income borrowers and that 49% of credit union branches are located in Community Development Financial Institution investment areas.”

Nussle added that credit unions return earnings to members in the form of better rates and lower fees, all of which contribute to lower rates for all consumers through competition.

“One hundred and two million credit union members already paid a total of $1.2 trillion in state and federal income taxes in 2014,” Nussle wrote. “An additional tax on credit unions would be raising taxes on middle class families while reducing banking competition. Keating and his banking buddies really need to reexamine the facts of the credit union structure.”

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