The twin upheavals of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have led three of the credit union movement’s top organizations to collaborate on a system-wide disaster response for institutions and their members.
Credit Union National Association (CUNA), the industry’s largest trade organization, and CO-OP Financial Services and PSCU, normally competing credit union service organizations, form a partnership as unique as the circumstances.
Special toll-free numbers are now available dedicated to helping credit union members with ATM access and branch information as they may be displaced or their credit union unavailable due to natural disaster.
The special toll-free numbers are available in both English and Spanish:
- (866) 564-3519
- (844) 897-2060(with service options for hearing impaired)
“These unprecedented natural disasters call for a unified response from organizations that service credit unions – whose mandate is always ‘people helping people,’” said Jim Nussle (CUNA), Todd Clark (CO-OP) and Chuck Fagan (PSCU), President/CEO of their respective organizations, in a combined statement.
“CO-OP and PSCU are both CUSOs, but even as competitors, the cooperatives are built and owned by credit unions and truly exist to serve credit unions. The two companies are rallying to support our industry because that’s what it means to be a CUSO,” the statement continued.
Since the onslaught of Hurricane Harvey, all three organizations are also working closely with the Cornerstone Credit Union League and directly with clients in the area.
“Over the past 10 days, we at Cornerstone CUL have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from our system partners,” said Caroline Willard, President/CEO of Cornerstone CUL. “The toll-free hotlines will be a tremendous resource for impacted members in the Gulf Coast. Even better, it adds to the disaster recovery capabilities for the movement moving forward. We are so grateful to CUNA, CO-OP and PSCU for their collaboration.”
CUNA, CO-OP and PSCU have all announced donations to the CUAid relief effort, which can be made at www.cuaid.coop.
“We have all been proactively contacting clients and member institutions in the impacted areas to assess needs and determine where we can contribute,” said Nussle, Clark and Fagan. “More than that, though, CUNA, CO-OP and PSCU will be working together in the long-term to help credit unions smoothly connect with their members, and members connect with their credit unions, in time of greatest need.”
The original article An Unprecedented Partnership for Unprecedented Times: CUNA, CO-OP and PSCU Combine Efforts for Disaster Response can be found on Insight Vault.
