"If you're experiencing a regional disaster, power and communications will be out for awhile. You don't know when that's going to be restored so you go from a very digitally oriented society—swiping credit cards and debit cards and those sorts of thing—to a completely cash-only society,” Teel says.
Members and the community at large may need cash for fuel, hotel rooms, and other essentials, he says. And your members might be especially vulnerable.
"Often, specific segments of your community can be affected more than others, especially the underbanked population,” he says. “In those cases you want to be in the community serving it. You don't want to have to shut down a branch on this side of town and force people to go to the other side of town because that's logistically difficult. Think about situations where public transport has been put out of commission.”
Agility, a CUNA Strategic Services alliance provider, works with organizations across the country, including many credit unions, to recover and respond to natural disasters and other unforeseen events that affect business operations.
The Winter 2023 issue of Credit Union Magazine explores award-winning marketing, board training on a budget, developments in instant payments, service to small businesses, and NCUA’s final rule on member expulsion.
