The new year has thus far been a very exciting one for the credit union industry, with its new trade group, America’s Credit Unions (a merger between CUNA and the NAFCU), officially launching. Shortly following the entity’s creation, the President and CEO of the organization, Jim Nussle, released a video remarking on the achievement.

“We are at the beginning of our historic transformation into a new powerhouse national association, focused on advocating and advancing an environment where credit unions thrive,” said Nussle. “As this transformative work begins, we are focused on delivering impact for credit unions and you. Impact begins by focusing on influence, ensuring a relentless advocacy offense strategy to secure industry wins—creating that environment where credit unions can thrive.”

Nussle went on to detail the organization’s goals, stating, “America’s Credit Union’s goal is creating one united voice, promoting the credit union difference, and amplifying our alignment; at the center of our strategy is you, our member credit unions.”

In the days following that announcement, Nussle released the Nussle Report, proving that America’s Credit Unions is already hard at work within the industry. Along with the creation of a new website and social media accounts, the group already has a compliance blog as well as an event calendar for the year.

The report also noted that the newly-formed board of directors held its first meeting in which it made committee assignments, approved a supplemental budget to support transformation efforts, and approved the America’s Credit Unions Bylaws, among other business items.

Advocacy-wise, America’s Credit Unions has already written to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the topic of overdraft and nonsufficient funds fees, arguing that the CFPB’s upcoming proposals fail to follow the law if the organization does not first conduct a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act review.

You can read the full Nussle report here.