CUNA economists gave their projection of the lasting impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its effect on credit unions during a webinar Tuesday. The webinar was the first session in CUNA’s eSchool on managing economic and operational challenges during COVID-19.

CUNA Chief Economist Mike Schenk was joined by CUNA Senior Policy Analyst Samira Salem and CUNA Senior Economist Jordan van Rijn for the webinar.

Schenk said CUNA will continue to update its economic forecast on a more regular basis due to the changes in COVID-19 related information that occur regularly around the world.

Salem noted that the pandemic is impacting both the supply side and the demand side, but that since the fundamentals of the U.S. economy were generally solid pre-pandemic, it’s impact would likely not be as long-lasting as the previous decade’s great recession.

She added that the pandemic is not a financial crisis, nor a mortgage crisis, and it’s likely to be more rapid but more short-lived than the Great Recession, noting that Federal Reserve and government actions occurred more quickly than the Great Recession.

Regarding credit union operations, van Rijn said credit unions should expect to see slower loan growth, lower earnings and slower membership growth, and smaller credit unions and those serving impacted and vulnerable populations could feel more of the impact.

He also shared recommendations from CUNA’s latest policy paper on the pandemic, that credit unions should look to regularly communicate with all stakeholders, support their members and employees, reconsider strategic plans, forecast different scenarios and look to return to the credit union’s mission and vision.

Live eSchool sessions will occur April 8, 14, 15 and 16, starting at 3 p.m. (ET). The sessions are recorded and those who register can also view the recordings. A separate registration is also available to access all recordings for those who cannot watch it live.

Other topics to be covered during the eSchool include:

• Keeping employees engaged during the pandemic (April 8);
• How to save your member experience (April 14);
• How to salvage your strategic plan (April 15);
• Managing a remote workforce (April 16).