Self-Help Credit Union has decided to disaffiliate from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), the Durham-based financial institution announced recently. Because CUNA rules dictate that a member credit union that drops CUNA membership must also disaffiliate from its regional league, Self-Help will also leave the Carolinas Credit Union League, officials said.

Self-Help, a statewide organization with assets of $675 million, has one branch office in Wilmington. Its sister organization, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, which operates primarily in California and in the Chicago area, has also decided to withdraw from CUNA and the league, according to the officials.

Wilmington members of Self-Help won’t notice any change in products or services as a result of the disaffiliation, according to David Beck, Self-Help Credit Union’s director of public policy. Members will still enjoy the benefits of Self-Help’s participation in the Shared Branch Network, which gives members access to services at other credit unions in the network.

Last week, in an interview with industry publication CU Times, Self-Help president Randy Chambers said that several CUNA national policy positions had gradually become counter to those of his organization, especially in the area of consumer protection.

Beck said in an interview Thursday that the decision to sever ties with CUNA has been a long time coming and pointed to three major points of contention that finally caused the credit union to say “enough is enough.”  

One was a differing stance on a federal law, enacted in 2005, that was designed to make it harder for individuals to clear their debts through bankruptcy. CUNA supported the bill, but Self-Help did not, Beck said.

Four years later, Congress considered a provision that would have allowed judicial modifications of mortgage principals for mortgagees struggling to make payments and in danger of foreclosure. Beck said CUNA opposed the bill; Self-Help supported it. The measure failed to pass.

Currently, CUNA maintains “ongoing opposition” to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), said Chambers in his interview with CU Times, adding that the association’s positions run counter to those of Self-Help. Beck concurred that the two organizations don’t see eye-to-eye on some consumer protection measures.

“More recently the concerns have been about [CUNA’s] advocating for harmful overdraft protection programs that would cost consumers,” Beck said. “We’ve been at odds on that point; also on consistent efforts to weaken a lot of the consumer protections that the CFPB is supporting.”

These policy differences are important because Self-Help's mission is to provide accessible and affordable financial services, especially to underserved communities, small businesses, non-profit organizations and low-income individuals.

The negative impact of dropping CUNA membership will be minimal, according to Beck, and will save the credit union about $20,000 per year in dues to the national association and about $30,000 to the league. “The big loss for us is having to disaffiliate with the league,” he said, explaining that Self-Help has strong relationships with fellow credit unions in North and South Carolina, and has worked with a number of them, through the Carolinas Credit Union League, to advocate for laws reining in predatory mortgage lending and payday lending.

Self-Help is not the first North Carolina credit union to exit from CUNA. In February 2014, the State Employees’ Credit Union -  the largest credit union in the state and second in the nation, according to SECU officials - dropped its membership in part because of CUNA’s requirement that a credit union must join CUNA if it wants to be part of its regional league.