The Minnesota Department of Commerce has approved MnCUN’s proposed updates to the Standard Credit Union Bylaws. Thank you to the members of the Network’s State Charter subcommittee for providing valuable input and feedback as we worked to revise and make enhancements.

The changes include the following:

• Article II Membership Section 4 Optional – expulsion of members
• Article IV Board of Directors Section 6 Added – common practice
• Article IV Board of Directors Section 10 Optional – indemnification
• Article VII Amendments Section 2 – updated to match statute verbiage
• Other minor verbiage updates

Each credit union has the option of adopting the new bylaws. These documents can also be found on the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s website: https://mn.gov/commerce/industries/financial-institutions/credit-union/

Last week, during a special legislative session the Minnesota House took up and unanimously passed a bill that permits video conferencing to satisfy the requirement to appear personally before a notarial officer for certain conveyances.
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The bill deems that the requirement to appear in person is met if both the notarial officer and the signer are both in Minnesota and communicate via video conference. The bill also requires that the notarial officer meet several requirements, including:

• Taking reasonable steps to ensure the integrity, security, and authenticity of the audio and video record of the performance of the notarial act
• Maintaining a backup of the audio and video record required in paragraph and protecting the record and the backup from unauthorized access or use.
• Maintaining the recording for at least ten years after the date of the transaction or proceeding.

The full language of the bill can be found online.

Later last week, the Minnesota Senate passed the bill unanimously and goes to Governor Walz, who is expected to sign it. If Governor Walz signs the bill, it would become law immediately but will only remain in effect until January 6, 2021.
Also as part of the special session, the House and Senate both took up and passed a $1.87 billion bonding bill meant to pay for hundreds of infrastructure improvement projects around the state ranging from roads and bridges to wastewater facilities and higher education asset preservation.

Several tax provisions were also part of the package, including a tax break meant to help farmers and small business owners that would increase the deduction on like-kind exchanges from 20% to 100% and make the change retroactive for tax years 2018 and 2019.
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This would allow small businesses and farmers to deduct the full expense during the first year after buying a piece of equipment and putting it into operation. Changes at the federal level have in the last couple of years required such purchases to be counted as income, which meant a higher tax bill for some. But the federal government allows a full deduction, and the so-called “full section 179 expensing” proposed in the bill would bring the Minnesota tax code into alignment. 

CUNA Updates MLA Card Fee Spreadsheet for Q3
CUNA updated its Military Lending Act (MLA) credit card fee spreadsheet for the third quarter of 2020. 

HMDA Reference Tool Available
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) published a reference tool for data points required to be collected, recorded and reported under Regulation C. 

Minnesota Credit Union Network Comments on CECL Proposal 
The Minnesota Credit Union Network, with input from the Regulatory Review Committee, submitted comments to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) on it proposed process for transitioning to Current Expected Loss CECL methodology. 

Bureau Extends Expiration Date for GSE Qualified Mortgage Loans 
On October 20 (yesterday), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) issued a final rule extending the Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) Patch until the mandatory compliance date of a final rule amending the General Qualified Mortgage (QM) loan definition in Regulation Z.

The GAC scholarship was created to provide financial assistance to credit union staff and/or volunteers who are members of the Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) and wish to participate in CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference. The Foundation has a $8,000 scholarship pool, and funds allocated to applicants may be used for the cost of the conference registration. The premier event for political impact in the credit union industry, will be an interactive virtual format taking place March 2-4, 2021. More information is available at https://www.cuna.org/gac/

Preference will be given to applicants who have not attended GAC, are from credit unions under $100 million in assets, and have shown engagement with MnCUN and credit union advocacy.

Application deadline: November 30, 2020 

In recognition of his service and dedication, First Alliance Credit Union has honored Harold “Harry” Wobschall as a Credit Union Builder through the Minnesota Credit Union Foundation. Harry was an active member of the First Alliance Credit Union Board of Directors for an amazing 51 years, retiring at the end of 2019.

Harry held numerous positions on the Board of Directors, retiring as the Vice Chair of the board and Chair of the Facilities and Security committees.

He represented First Alliance at countless industry functions such as the national Governmental Affairs Conference; the Minnesota Credit Union Network’s Annual Meetings and Fall Conferences, and regionally at the Hiawatha Area Chapter meetings.

Created in 2008, the Credit Union Builder Award honors an individual’s dedication to the success, growth, and vitality of the not-for-profit financial movement in Minnesota. Dedications are typically made at a special time of significance to acknowledge an individual’s contributions to credit unions.

In total, 74 individuals have been designated as Credit Union Builders over the past nine years. The names of the recipients and the contributing credit unions are permanently displayed in the Minnesota Credit Union Network’s lobby as a tribute to those who have dedicated time and energy to building the credit union movement.

Visit the CU Builder Page to submit a nomination and contact Andrea Molnau, Executive Director of the Minnesota Credit Unions Foundation with questions.

.On Monday, October 12, 53 credit unions and industry partners continued the tradition of spreading kindness in communities throughout Minnesota in celebration of CU FORWARD Day. Kindness came in the form of meal preparation and food packing, cards to seniors and frontline workers, care packages, food and clothing drives, contributions to nonprofits, and small, in-person volunteering events.
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In total, over 3,300 volunteers dedicated approximately 6,250 hours of giveback related to this initiative. Credit unions throughout the state and beyond helped spread the word to the tune of 80 mentions, reaching an audience of half a million using and sharing initiative-specific hashtags, including #CUForwardDay, via various social media channels.

CU FORWARD, a Minnesota state-wide initiative of credit unions collaborating to support their communities through spreading kindness, demonstrates to our members and the broader community the cooperative principles by which we operate, exemplary of the credit union difference. The concept has continued to spread in the industry, with credit unions from Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Washington and Wisconsin participating in giving campaigns on this day

Minnesota credit unions are releasing results of a survey of over 600 Minnesotans. The survey was conducted August 30 - September 3, 2020, and measured consumer attitudes about credit unions.

Research shows fifty-four percent of Minnesota credit union members in Minnesota “love” their credit union while only 17 percent of bank customers love their bank. This rating for credit unions continues to trend upwards over the five years MnCUN has measured it, while those who “love” their bank has remained steady.

“Minnesota’s credit unions are committed to their members, in good times and challenging ones,” MnCUN CEO Mark Cummins said. “We are encouraged by the trends and continue our efforts to help consumers understand the advantages of being a credit union member.”

Additional findings from the survey indicate that fifty-two percent of non-credit union members age 18-34 year-olds are likely to consider joining a credit union. This percentage has also increased significantly since 2017, when Minnesota Credit Unions initiated a statewide Consumer Awareness campaign targeting this age group.
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Additional findings include:

• Credit unions continue to be more likely to be thought of as a positive force in the community than banks. A majority of people say that having local roots in the community, investing more in the community, and being honest and trustworthy better describes credit unions than banks.
• Banks continue to have advantages over credit unions on financial security and convenient amenities like ATM locations and online banking services. In light of the pandemic, a majority of Minnesotans say online banking services have increased in importance.
• That said, we measure a large uptick in the percentage of Minnesotans who believe their money is just as safe in a credit union as it is in a bank compared to previous waves of research, and we are making gains in attitudes about having good online banking and mobile services.
• Minnesotans overwhelmingly and broadly support credit unions maintaining their tax-exempt status.

• Credit union members strongly support credit unions in a legislative dispute with banks, but bank customers are more lukewarm in their support of banks in a legislative dispute.

 
The full research results are available for MnCUN members only. 

The Minnesota Credit Union Employee Benefits Plan released its 2021 renewal rates for medical insurance. The average renewal rate increase for the Benefits Plan participants is 5.9%, with most seeing rate increases of only 5%.

Reducing the cost volatility of health benefits for credit unions and their employees is one of the goals of the Benefits Plan and progress is being made towards that goal.

The Benefits Plan is currently providing medical insurance quotes for 2021 and there is plenty of time to receive a quote and enroll. There still plenty of time to receive a quote and enroll. New to 2021, we are now offering ancillary benefits (Life, Short and Long-Term Disability, Dental, Vision and more).
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Visit the Minn. CU Employee Benefits Plan page for more information on the coverage and wellness benefits, and on how to obtain a quote. All Minnesota headquartered credit unions that are members of MnCUN may participate in the plan.

According to the NCUA Quarterly US Map Review, Minnesota credit unions ranked highly for key indicators of financial health and viability - all the while providing much needed assistance to members in response to COVID-19 and current economic challenges. And consumers are paying attention. New state-specific research shows the likelihood to join a credit union continues to steadily improve and consideration is above national trends. Furthermore, members’ “love” for their credit union is seeing a significant upward trend as well.
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Join us to hear about current trends, consumer sentiments and takeaways for the credit union industry. Mark Cummins and Blois Olson will provide a closer look at what the numbers mean for the current state of Minnesota Credit Unions, on Wednesday, October 21 at 10:00 am.