Researchers from around the country provided much-needed focus on credit union-centric data as America’s Credit Unions partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Cooperatives, and Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business for the third annual Credit Union Research Workshop.

Designed to promote collaboration, stimulate discussion, and share credit union-related research, it was also critical in advancing and encouraging additional research into the credit union difference.

“Events like this encourage academic research into the transformative power of credit unions, especially important with banks consistently putting resources into pro-bank academic work,” said America’s Credit Unions Chief Economist Mike Schenk. “The research presented provides data-backed insights into some of the many ways credit unions benefit communities, and America’s Credit Unions continues to seek additional opportunities to connect with researchers and provide additional, valuable data.”

The event consisted of a research workshop featuring presentations of three recent academic papers addressing:

• The decrease in credit union uninsured deposits in the wake of bank collapses like Silicon Valley Bank;
• How credit union expansion in the wake of the 2017 field-of-membership rule change improves credit access to customers in low-income and underserved communities usually left out by large banks; and
• The impact of credit unions on bank lending rates for auto and mortgages loans in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Increased competition from credit unions leads to lower bank rates indicating the disciplining role they play, particularly in large markets.  

The event also featured a panel discussion organized by the Filene Research Institute covering how credit union leaders navigate between pursuing growth and establishing and maintaining a distinct value proposition and organization identity.

America’s Credit Unions Senior Economist Dawit Kebede was part of the event’s organization committee. This is the third such academic gathering since 2019. America’s Credit Unions also participated in last year’s event.