Insights from Catalyst

Credit unions have had access to interest rate derivatives as a risk management tool for years. Gaining the authority to use them, however, presented a challenge many credit unions simply did not want to tackle. Fortunately, NCUA’s recently proposed rule will make it easier for credit unions to incorporate derivatives into their balance sheet management practices.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Great Recession of 2008, and now…COVID-19. The health and economic crisis brought on by the global pandemic is arguably the third major outlier event of our generation. From an investment management perspective, credit unions that invested to build and maintain a well-balanced portfolio appear to have been most successful in weathering the storms.

Three years ago, Catalyst Corporate partnered with InTouch Credit Union in their digital transformation efforts to implement an ATM/ITM Capture solution across their entire enterprise. As an active solution today, has it delivered the benefits the credit union was seeking?

Now a month into the new year, the sudden shock of 2020 is slowly fading, and we can finally catch our breath…right? Well, the fresh start also inches us closer to the impending CECL transition. Despite hope that the implementation date might get pushed out amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears January 1, 2023 is standing firm.

Seeking authority to issue secondary capital is not a new endeavor for low income-designated (LID) credit unions, but – with asset growth strong – interest and strategic value for it has increased in recent years. Even though NCUA authorized LID credit unions to count uninsured secondary capital as capital in 1996, the number of credit unions that have issued uninsured secondary capital has been fairly flat until recently.