INFORMATION & RESOURCES ON COVID-19 | April 7, 2020
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This Tuesday afternoon eNews has the most recent developments, news, and resources that MCU staff have collected. As Governor Bullock
just extended his stay at home directive to April 24
, we'd like to reiterate our thanks for all you're doing to help your staff, members, families, and communities stay well and financially healthy.
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GUIDANCE, UPDATES, AND INFO YOU CAN USE
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PANDEMIC IMPACT ON CREDIT UNIONS
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The U.S. economy has rapidly entered a recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a
new white paper from CUNA
contains forecasts on both the overall impact on credit unions and how credit unions with certain characteristics may perform. It also offers a few strategies that you might want to consider as you work to serve you members and weather the repercussions from the pandemic. This
CUNA News article
has more details.
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PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM INFO
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For credit unions who are working to get set up to be part of the Small Business Association's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), here are some resources you might find helpful:
LETTER TO CREDIT UNIONS:
Yesterday, NCUA released a
Letter to Credit Unions
providing an overview of the PPP and information about the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.
PPP FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
: The SBA released a
detailed FAQ on the PPP
last night. Here it is for your reading pleasure.
RECORDED VIDEO:
This
29-minute video
from CLA Financial Institutions is a live-stream of a discussion of PPP from the lender's perspective. It might help with some of the concerns or questions you have about the program.
SBA PHONE NUMBER:
The SBA has added a lender-only call center. Here's the number: 833-572-0502.
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PREPARE FOR STIMULUS CHECKS
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In a webinar on Monday, officials from Treasury, Fiscal Services, and FRB Cash Services discussed the upcoming Economic Impact Payments. The goal is to get funds to consumers as quickly as possible, which could present some operational challenges. Payments could start as early as the end of this week or next, and the officials encouraged credit union to get prepared. Since, all ACH and check payments will appear in the same manner as tax refunds, it's important to educate staff on Treasury check
security features
and consider using the Treasury Check
verification system
. In addition, they strongly encouraged credit union to talk to your cash-ordering source about the amounts you may need in coming weeks and credential a backup employee for ordering.
We can expect further communications as soon as the agencies know more details. But, here are some additional resources: the
IRS page
and
UMACHA resource page
for ACH and payment questions.
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RECOGNIZE AND REPORT FRAUDSTERS
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Speaking of the stimulus checks … federal officials (well, all of us really) are concerned about scams and schemes that are being rolled out to defraud consumers. Last week, the IRS issued
a press release
that detailing some of the current schemes and asked people who receive unsolicited emails, text messages, or social media attempts to gather information that appear to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), to forward it to
phishing@irs.gov
.
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ON THE ADVOCACY FRONT:
Each week, CUNA releases a short video that that offers a short overview of what's going on "This Week in Washington."
This week's video
includes a quick update on the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program and CUNA's advocacy efforts on the Federal Reserve's Reg D transfer limit, as well as a reminder about CUNA's resource page. Take five minutes and give it a watch.
PAID LEAVE WEBINAR:
Credit union compliance and HR professionals can now access a
free recorded webinar
that covers how to apply the new paid leave requirements established in the FFCRA that went into effect April 1.
COMPLIANCE WEBINARS:
CUNA's compliance team is offering a series of free webinars that are intended to help with some of the compliance challenges you are having related to COVID. Click on your credit union's asset size to register:
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MCU COVID-19 RESOURCE PAGE ADDITIONS
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COVID-19 RESOURCE PAGE:
We continue to update our
Coronavirus Resource page
regularly to provide you a quick place to get updated information for Montana, as both a credit union and an employer. This week, we added a ‘Lender Resource’ section that includes SBA links and information, as well as a ‘Scams & Fraud’ section to note known scams related to the pandemic.
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CONSUMER FINANCE PROTECTION BUREAU UPDATE
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CFPB ADDRESSES CREDIT REPORTING:
The CFPB released a
policy statement
outlining the responsibilities of credit reporting agencies and furnishers under the CARES Act. Lenders are required to report to credit bureaus that consumers are current on their loans if consumers have sought relief from their lenders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CUNA's
Removing Barriers Blog
has more information.
CFPB ROLLS OUT CONSUMER RESOURCES:
Over the past week, the CFPB has released several resources to help consumers take steps to protect their finances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit unions and consumers can monitor the
CFPB's blog
for the latest updates and resources.
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To make sure these important links stay at your fingertips, we're going to keep them at the bottom of this weekly email. If we introduce links above that we feel belong here, you'll see them in this list in the next issue.
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MONTANA-SPECIFIC RESOURCES
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This is an internal publication of Montana's Credit Unions intended for our affiliated credit unions and their official family. For more information, call us or visit our website.
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Montana's Credit Unions | 800-745-5547 | montanascreditunions.coop
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