WEEKLY UPDATE FROM MONTANA'S CREDIT UNIONS | January 16, 2026 | | |
Congratulations on making it halfway through January. If the rest of the year flies by this quickly, it will be 2027 before we know it!
Like you, we'll be out of the office on Monday in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We encourage you to honor his legacy by asking yourself, "What are you doing for others?" and then implementing a plan of service for 2026.
| | | NCUA Supervisory Priorities: NCUA Chairman Hauptman released the 2026 Supervisory Priorities Letter for federally insured credit unions. It details topics that examiners will be focusing attention on across the system this year. Balance Sheet Management, Operational Risk Management, and Compliance Risk Management were the primary topics, with several sub-topics and resources described within each. He stated that the NCUA "will continue to enforce all laws and regulations applicable to credit unions, such as those related to consumer financial protection and information security. NCUA examiners will continue to focus on areas of risk where and when needed." | | | Credit Unions for Kids Updates | | | Play Yellow 2026: Join Shodair’s 6th Annual Play Yellow Golf Invitational, May 31–June 1 at Rock Creek Cattle Company, for two days of championship golf. This premier event brings golfers and supporters together to raise funds for Shodair Children’s Hospital, ensuring Montana kids receive life-changing care when they need it most. Register your team and be part of an experience where your participation truly makes an impact. | |  | CU4Kids Opportunity for Young Professionals: At many credit union industry conferences, young professionals can apply to “crash” the conference, meaning they get a free trip to the conference. Here's a similar opportunity for Elevate — the Children’s Miracle Network annual network-wide conference. Successful applicants will learn to champion CU4Kids at their credit union. Learn more and register by February 6. | | | |
Lead with True North — Free Monthly Leadership Sessions: Remember Chantel McCormick Schieffer from Be Wild? She’s back with her True North Leadership Power Hour series — now in its third year! These free one-hour Zoom sessions happen on the first Monday of every month at noon and focus on one core value at a time — like courage, kindness, humor, and resilience — turning them into practical leadership behaviors you can use right away.
No hustle. No performative leadership. Just grounded reflection, useful tools, and meaningful conversation. If you’re craving leadership that feels human again, this space is for you. Register here!
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While momentum around a proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates has slightly slowed, we are seeing renewed concern that the underlying intent could resurface through the Credit Card Competition Act and related interchange proposals. We have engaged with Montana’s federal delegation to share our aligned goal of improving affordability, while emphasizing that one-size-fits-all approaches can carry unintended consequences for the very people these proposals are meant to serve.
We will continue to monitor developments and alert Montana’s credit unions when action is needed. In the meantime, please begin gathering real member stories, which remain one of our most powerful tools in warding off harmful legislation. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Karen.
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MCU Advocacy Champions: Join us at 9:00 a.m. on February 10 for a timely discussion of 2026 advocacy priorities at both the state and federal levels. We’ll hear from America’s Credit Unions on national priorities and emerging issues, share Montana’s key advocacy focus for the year ahead, provide updates on ongoing committee work, and review progress on modernizing the State Credit Union Act.
Register Today
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Your Credit Union Why: Congratulations to Billings FCU for certifying 100% of their team in the Montana Credit Union Philosophy certification program. We appreciate their dedication and commitment to helping their team understand the why behind the "people over profits" philosophy. Billings FCU joins Montana Educators' CU, which certified 100% of its team in late 2025. If you want to join these credit unions and help your team understand the "why" behind what we do, it's easy. Seriously, the test is easy, folks.
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Save the Dates for Future Important Events
We've compiled a list of events happening next week so you don't have to. All events are mountain time unless noted otherwise.
| | | Looking (A Bit Farther) Ahead | | | |
Save the dates (MCU events are in blue)...
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This Week's Blogs
A Direct Line: For this week’s blog, Donya sat down with Frank Barnes, board chair at Whitefish Credit Union, for a podcast highlighting the crucial role volunteer boards play in steering credit unions. Frank shares insights from his work with America’s Credit Unions’ Volunteer Leadership Community and reveals why he always looks forward to February’s Roundtable. Listen to the podcast: Frank Barnes Discusses the Importance of Volunteers
Personal Finance Blog: Crockpots might be built to "set it and forget it." Your budget, though? Not so much. Evaluating your financial process is more like... stirring risotto — the stirring, chopping, pouring, grating, and adjusting until you reach perfection. This week's personal finance blog lists seven things to review regularly. Don't worry: it's easier than making risotto.
| | | Did you miss the HYPE? This week, the HYPE (young professionals) committee released its first quarterly newsletter of 2026. Have you seen it yet? While the newsletter is created by young professionals for their peers, it features valuable insights for everyone — including leadership tips, goal-setting strategies, the importance of active listening, and more. And don’t worry if you no longer consider yourself a "young" professional — these topics are relevant to all. Take a look and share it with your teams. Then sign up your actual young professionals for the upcoming community call. | | | CU Collaborate Helps Credit Unions Grow Smarter: As a credit-union-focused CUSO, CUCollaborate delivers innovative data and analytics solutions that support membership growth, field-of-membership expansion, and strategic decision-making. Their expertise and collaborative approach help Montana credit unions turn insights into action and strengthen their impact in the communities they serve. Email Coquise Frost, Director of New Business, to learn more. | | | Is Your Credit Union’s Incident Response Program Ready for A Cyber Attack? Cyber threats are escalating—and credit unions can’t afford to be unprepared. Partnering with Trellance helps credit unions strengthen and test incident response programs before a cyber event occurs. From building clear, actionable response plans to facilitating realistic tabletop exercises and aligning cyber insurance requirements, Trellance provides the expertise and trusted partnerships needed for a swift, coordinated response. Be ready to protect your systems, your members, and your reputation when it matters most. Read the full article and contact Optiri, a Trellance Company, to learn more. | | | Credit Union Sales Intensive Workshop: Transform your service culture from order taker to value creator with this two- or three-day virtual workshop. Designed for all member-facing staff and leaders, the CU Sales Intensive builds the mindset, processes, and skills needed to deepen relationships and increase product penetration. With seven virtual dates available, it’s easy to find a fit for your team. Learn more and register by January 31 to join the first session of 2026 in February. | | | Webinars for Everyone on your Team: Learn from the comfort of your own office from these webinar partners. Click on each to view a list of upcoming webinars. | | | |
Switch, Change, Rotate
One of my favorite facilitation activities is called Switch, Change, Rotate. In this high-energy activity, teams move in a line from the starting point (representing the beginning of a goal, point in time, etc.) to the other side of the room (representing completing the goal, getting to the end of the year, etc.). As teams move, I give them instructions to either switch, change, or rotate.
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With switch, the person in the front of the line moves to the back, and the person in the back moves to the front — they
“switch” places.
| | | With change, the entire team changes direction, so instead of moving toward the finish line, they are moving toward the starting point. | | | |
With rotate, the person in the front moves to the back, and the person in the second position becomes
the leader.
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While this activity is not competitive per se, it quickly becomes competitive as teams try to get to the finish line first. As I reflect on teams, goals, strategy, and execution, I think this activity accurately reflects reality in our credit unions and organizations. The goal is clear (or should be). The teams are established, and everyone knows the goal. Then, life happens: team members change, a new regulation or environmental factor pops in and disrupts our plans, we must change directions entirely, or we need to slow down one aspect of our execution to bring others along. The empathy this activity helps us practice leads to trust in your team mates — whether in the activity or built out into the credit union. Empathy leads to trust, and trust helps teams succeed.
While we're busy building our team, our members are there with high expectations of us, their financial needs sometimes weighing them down. Do you feel the pressure yet? Do you find yourself and your team having to constantly switch, change, and rotate to move toward your goals? Does it feel like you are moving away from your goals to overcome an obstacle, and wonder how you’ll get back on track? I’ve found this is our reality in today’s environment. Our role as leaders is to help our credit unions and our teams navigate these realities and lean into — even learn into — the challenges and opportunities before us. When we do, we will accomplish more than we ever imagined and go farther than we dreamed possible.
I’ve spoken with several of our credit unions this week, and they are optimistic about 2026. I am, too. Why? Because our credit unions — you — are resilient, collaborative, and focused on serving your members and communities. Together (remember my word of the year from last week’s message?), we will effectively navigate whatever challenges and opportunities 2026 brings. We will switch, change, and rotate as necessary. And we will accomplish more than we imagined because a lot of people are counting on us to support their financial well-being. I am excited to serve alongside you in 2026!
Cooperatively, Gerry
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