Navigating 2026: Advocacy, Partnership, and the Future of Credit Unions

We map a fast-moving year for credit unions with Defense Credit Union Council's President and CEO, Anthony Hernandez. From defending the tax exemption to tackling credit card legislation, launching CU Unplugged, and deepening partnerships that deliver real education and value, the focus stays on veterans, member outcomes, and moving faster than the narrative. 

In this episode, we explore:

• Early mobilization to protect the tax exemption, address risks of a 10% credit card rate cap and routing mandates, and pursue regulatory relief in coalition with community banks.
• Continued efforts on liquidity support, CDFI engagement, and extending longer loan terms.
• Strategic partnership with ALM First to scale education, expansion of webinars, and exploration of a potential DCUC rebrand.
• Launch of the "CU Unplugged Unconference" in San Francisco for the activation of DCUC Regional sub councils. 
• Election-year onboarding of new lawmakers using localized credit union stories to build relationships.

Transcript

Mike Ensweiler

Welcome to the first episode of 2026 for, In Your Best Interest, an ALM First podcast. This show explores common depository challenges, provides an insider’s view of the latest market trends, and shares stories and insights from industry leaders. I’m your host, Mike Ensweiler.

Credit unions face unprecedented challenges each year; From protecting tax exempt status and navigating new credit card interest rates caps, for example, to managing regulatory burdens and ensuring continued access for credit union members. For those serving military personnel, veterans, and the broader communities who serve our country, these issues demand strong advocacy and strategic partnerships to succeed. I’m thrilled to kickoff the new year with a conversation about momentum, advocacy, and making a real difference.

Today we’re joined by Tony Hernandez, President and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council, often referred to as DCUC. Tony will share how DCUC is mobilizing the industry to protect credit union interest on capitol hill, it’s evolution to support all credit unions, the power of veteran advocacy and opening doors with lawmakers, and practical strategies for leaders to strengthen their voice in Washington, including leveraging veteran stories and preparing early for legislative fights.

With that all being said, let’s dive in.

Mike Ensweiler

Tony, thank you for joining us and Happy New Year.

 Anthony Hernandez
Happy New Year to you, Mike. Great to be here. Good to see, good to see you, here on the podcast.

Mike Ensweiler
Yeah, well, we are excited to have you and excited to kind of kick the year off on the right foot. So, maybe it's the level set with everyone- for listeners who might not be as familiar- can you give us a quick snapshot of the Defense Credit Union Council and its mission in supporting credit unions that serve our military and veteran communities?

Anthony Hernandez

Yeah, we always strive to be the trusted resource for credit unions, not just those that serve military and veterans, , but all credit unions. And, I should explain to the audience listening today, every credit union has at least one veteran in their field of membership. So that's why we say. All credit unions, , we've been doing, , we've been around since 1963, started off primarily with credit unions on military installations, but about five years ago working with the VA, the Department of Veteran Affairs on the veteran benefit banking program and working with them, we realized that because a veteran, there's a veteran in every zip code across the country, then it stands a reason that every credit union has at least one veteran and our-- and we were allowed to open up our membership to all.

So we do that. What we find by representing military and veterans is it opens a lot of doors on Capitol Hill inside the administration, and then at the even at the at the regulatory agencies.  when you think about it, Republicans love 
 veterans, Democrats love veterans and independents love veterans. So it's just a natural thing for us to do. And even before we got really involved with advocacy, I always offered to- back then it was CUNA and AFCU- that we could take any credit union issue and tie it to a veteran talking point when that's what we've been able to do very successfully. So that's DCUC in a nutshell.

 Mike Ensweiler
Yeah, it's been fun to see cause like you mentioned that the role is shifted and grown in recent years, especially heading into this year. So as the President and CEO of DCUC, what's one highlight or key achievement from 2025 that you're really proud of when it comes to advancing things for defense credit unions or all credit unions?

Anthony Hernandez

Well, there were many, but the one that stood out to me was the making sure that we protected the industry's tax-exempt status right in the one Big Beautiful Bill. , and what I'm proud of is that early on. We saw that as a huge threat. I would say in the fall of 2024 we had identified it and had already started mobilizing. And we were there when a lot of other people weren't sizing up the threat adequately in my opinion. People were coming to me and saying, “Tony, nobody's talking about the credit union tax exemption, except you guys,” and I just smiled and said, ‘well, I just read an article this morning with the banks up on the up on Capitol Hill. So the banks are definitely talking about it. And one thing we learned was that you need to respond to those attacks very quickly or the narrative gets set. 

And so I'm very proud of the way the team worked on that. Eventually worked with everybody. We had a couple industry-wide calls which also made me happy where we invited a lot of the other national trade associations and the leagues. We all came together for a united purpose and we get to do it all over again this year, but at least it was a unifying moment. And the reason why I say it's going to happen this year is as the president submitted a $1.5 trillion top line for the defense budget. That's about $500 billion more than the department typically gets. That $500 billion is got to come from somewhere. So, so guess what?  Giddy up. We're going to be in a fight again, and we're ready for it.

Mike Ensweiler
And we'll get to kind of ‘26 and kind of your thoughts on that in a second. But I'll tell you as someone who participated in those calls, I really appreciate your leadership throughout that effort. It was, it was great to see- you were right there at the beginning- and your outreach to the industry I thought is was very commendable and exciting for, kind of where the organization is going under your leadership and it's really neat.

 And so, as part of that, we've had a partnership for a number of years, but we formalized it and announced it back in October ‘25 at our Financial Forum in Banff. And so we're very excited about it. And so, from your seat in the stadium, what inspired this collaboration and how does it line up with DCUC's goals for supporting its members?

Anthony Hernandez
Well, first getting to know the great folks at ALM First by having you come to our overseas conferences and our annual conferences. I knew it was a great organization. And even have you guys speak at some of our at our events in the past.
 
And so when I started coming to ALM First events, I noticed that we had a lot of member credit unions that were already there. And I thought, “it'd be great if we could partner together, and bring more people to ALM First so they could get some of the knowledge, skills and abilities that ALM First offers, plus the camaraderie with other credit unions as well.”

And so it just made sense in that respect. As far as DCUC goes- and we talk about our value proposition- DCUC is only seven people. Right. When you compare that with another trade association that has say, 170 people, and you add up all the personnel in the leagues, we're about anywhere between 2-4% of that number.

 Mike Ensweiler
 Yep.
 

Anthony Hernandez
And so I don't have the or, DCUC doesn't have the bandwidth or right now the personnel capacity to do our own conferences, to do our own educational offering. And so it made sense to partner with someone that has a sterling reputation in the industry like ALM First.

And then promote that to our members as an option for them to take advantage of those offerings. And I think I think it's going to work out very, very well.  we announced the partnership in October. And so we’ll keep promoting it, and I have my eye on the next Financial Forum and making sure we promote that and then showing up and going, wow, this looks like a DCUC conference because all our people are here, right? That would be- that would be a touchdown and that's what we're working for.

 Mike Ensweiler
That's great. I love it and I think the great work that you've done, the great work that we've done, I think is ultimately going to strengthen, credit unions and ultimately the membership. 

Are there- in the announcement you talked a little bit about opening up new pathways for credit unions to strengthen operations and better serve their members- are there any early successes or upcoming joint initiatives in 2026 that you're particularly excited about?

Anthony Hernandez
Yeah, so well, again, our partnership with ALM First is part of all that. But we're looking at a whole bunch of other things. We had a very successful annual conference. We went from 4 breakout sessions- which we've been doing for years- to 15. And I know ALM First was doing a really good one on mergers and acquisitions and got a lot of good feedback on that. Some of the other breakout sessions were dealing with technology, whether it was AI, stablecoin or post-quantum computing.
 
And so one of the new offerings we're doing in 2026 is we're coming up with a, we call it an “unconference.” It's titled, “CU Unplugged.” If you remember MTV- which I think they had their last broadcast this year- but if you remember the old MTV, when they had their unplugged series, it was just the artist on the stage with nothing around them. And so, the way this conference is going to work- and we’re holding it on March 31st – April 2nd in San Francisco at the Visa Innovation Center, is it’s got no keynote speakers, no agenda. And so we're encouraging members to send whoever's their chief technology person in the credit union to come out to this. And we're going to have some futurists and some other folks that can lead discussions and we'll have breakout rooms. And the nice thing is, is you don't have to stay in one breakout room. If you got what you needed and contributed, you can go back and forth between all the different breakout rooms. 

We'll be recording it using AI and we'll sanitize it. And then when we get to our annual conference this year in August, we will probably highlight- or maybe those become the basis for those breakout sessions going forward on what we looked at. And we're not just talking about stable coin or post-quantum or AI, we're talking about what's the future of money- what does that look like 10 years down the road? Do we still use money? Will we still use money, right?

Or we use something like a social credit score. What I've been telling people is like, ‘Yeah, Mike Ensweiler is a pretty good guy. He pays his taxes and or he does good stuff. He has a great social credit score. So come on in the store, pick out a couple sweaters and some slacks and it may be a nice pair of shoes, but that Tony Hernandez, man, you can still come in the store, but you get, all the return stuff, right? And you get one sweater and one pair of pants because, you know.’

I'm making that up, but that's sort of the concept of the things that we're talking about. And I'm excited about it because that was my imagination, what it looks like- when you bring in a futurist, and we get a guy coming in from Bangkok, right, that lives in Bangkok to talk about this and what's nice about a futurist is they've already, thought some of this stuff through, , and when you have like sometimes some of them can be non-fiction or sci-fi science fiction writers and they can imagine a future that looks cool.

You ever, watch Star Trek and you wonder, well, you never see them paying cash or credit card or what, you always wonder how a currency works in a future environment like that. And so it's kind of exciting. It's the first time we're doing this conference, but I think the tools and the discussions that come out of that- to answer your question- will help credit unions decide on where they want to position themselves ahead of the future and sort of get there first, or be an early adopter so that you can gain expertise- hopefully share it- but if not market it and succeed. So that's in a nutshell.

Mike Ensweiler
That's exciting. I'll be curious to see how that goes. It's certainly very thought-provoking for sure.

Anthony Hernandez

 Right.

Mike Ensweiler
All right. So, switching back to kind of the advocacy area and some of what we were touching on as we're looking at 2026. As you mentioned, you're staying very active in the advocacy area, whether it's pushing back on certain regulatory proposals or working to protect members from things like unwanted robocalls, what's front and center as we kickoff 2026?

Anthony Hernandez
Well, if you've been watching the news the last couple days, it's this, it's this 10% credit card interest rate cap that's gained a lot of popularity. It sounds good. We'll talk about some of the consequences. And then, now, the Credit Card Competition Act. So, it's all things that have to do with credit cards are suddenly at the forefront. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We’re in a real fight right now, and we a lot of the industry not just credit unions but the bank- and the bankers as well.

This is a big deal.  when you limit credit cards to 10%- there's multiple studies I was going on I think I saw, up to 17 that recent studies- that say when you institute interest rate caps, you kick people off credit. They can no longer get credit cards, they can no longer get credit and that forces them into more unsavory or unsafe, , lending type arrangements. Pawn shops don't issue credit cards. So, they're not, they're not going to be under this 10% cap, right. So where do you think people may or may not go? We saw it with the Military Lending Act now, , and we've never really been big fans of that legislation because of the reduced access to credit and now we could potentially be seeing that. 

So those two came out of nowhere. We had started off the year last week- the first Monday of the year- with reaching out to the Independent Community Banker Association to see if there were areas where we could partner. We've been hearing from a lot of small credit unions about regulatory relief because that's fairly big for them And I totally understand and I can see it. And so, community banks are under the same regulatory burden. So we were looking for ways of partnering and putting aside our differences, looking for ways we can work together and not at each other's throats.

Started to have those meetings and then of course everything else kicked in. We've got a lot of stuff planned for veteran business member lending and look for some big announcements and some partnerships coming up on that. But we think it's an idea that's come around. I guess we're due for it now and it will be well-placed. 

And then we continue to work on the Central Liquidity Facility and expanding that, and the CDFI- we almost got those inserted into the last National Defense Authorization Act- that that just passed last December. We actually have three of the four corners- the Senate banking Housing and Urban Development, and the House Financial Services- we had three of the four leaders in those committees that were on board. It was just one person, that of the four that didn't like it and so it didn't make it in. But man, had that been one of the amendments that would have been huge getting that getting that passed- maybe not in the grand scheme of things- but we'd have actually gotten legislation passed. And so we're doing that.

And then another opportunity fell into our lap. It's the Expanding Access to Credit Act that Senator Cramer introduced, and that's extending the loan periods from 15 years to 20 years. And they asked us to help promote that and so, we're fully on board because that makes a lot of sense. So not even halfway through the month- the first month of the year- we're very, very busy. And then there's a whole bunch of other stuff. I mean, you mentioned- robocalls and a whole bunch of other stuff that we're involved with as well. But it's good. I've got a great team that that works on all that and it keeps me busy. Very, very busy.

Mike Ensweiler

Yeah, yeah, I guess that's the good news, right? The days go quick. Just shifting kind of to the political side of the house a little bit- this is obviously a midterm election type of a year. We've seen there's going to be a lot of retirements in Congress. What do you think the impact of the elections and obviously a lot of turnover in Congress is going to have this cycle on credit unions?

Anthony Hernandez
Well, we're going to have, if we have new members of Congress, we're going to have to re-seed the idea- the credit union difference, right- re-seed those ideas, explain to them,  where how credit unions differ from banks and that's true in any election when you have a turnover of a of members in Congress. And so that's going to take a lot of meetings. And in the best time to do that is when you really don't need anything- just to schedule some time and go do that.

It's also going to be getting their support for different industry initiatives. So that's going to become very important. And then building coalitions, working across both sides of the aisle- which like I said earlier- with the serving veterans, we try to take our advocacy on what's the benefit for the military member or the veteran member- not so much the credit union. But if we can, if we can hone in on that message, then it's going to benefit the credit union as well. And that's been, that's been the I was going to say the secret- but I'm on a podcast right now, so secret's out- but that's been the secret to our advocacy success and getting those meetings and getting, , actual bills introduced or having having members of Congress come to us for support because they recognize our value and our place in the industry.

Mike Ensweiler
That's great. I love it. Let let's so let's turn back to the conversation a little bit back towards your value and as we look ahead to the rest of 2026 and you have key events on the calendar like Defense Matters in March and the DCUC annual conference in August. What other developments or opportunities should credit unions keep an eye on from DCUC as we go through the year?

 Anthony Hernandez
Well, it’s the 250th Anniversary of America. And so, we are already working on a co-branded video opportunity- and if you go on our website, you can see the last one we did- where we thank our veterans and it's just a good kind of tells a story about that. So, I think you'll see a lot of what we're doing for America’s 250th birthday. 

I mentioned the CU Unplugged offering. We're also coming out and doing a lot more regional sub-councils. I think that's us taking DCUC out of DC or out of out of the annual conference and coming to a place near you. And those have been very good. 

And then we're doing a lot more webinars such as this one or podcast where people can come and learn something- whether it's how to create wealth or how to defeat bad actors in a post-quantum environment. There are things you can do. And so, we are making the investments to get more to offer more value for the due’s dollar. So I'm excited about all those.

Another thing we're looking at doing is we're asking the question, “does DCUC need a rebrand?” And that's a huge question and we're working with the company on asking that. And I'm OK if the answer is, “Nope you don't- you guys are fine, keep with the red, white and blue and the- “I call it the ‘sheagle.’ It's the eagle with the shield behind it. If that works, then we'll keep it. But if we need a rebrand- and we're actually going to change our, we probably are going to change our motto. Our motto is, ‘Serving, serving those who serve our country’ to ‘serving all who serve’. Because teachers serve, first responders serve, other government employees are either forest service or TSA agents. And so, how do we hone that message as we broaden our aperture for membership as well.

And so, I think by making that slight change is good. And when I talked with the branding company, they're like, “that's good.” I'm like, “make sure that comes off our bill.” Just, kidding. But no, I think it's good because, , defense credit union counsel's a mouthful, but I like keeping council in it cause it's a hat tip to our past. We started off as a CUNA Council. That's why council's in our last name and it's just good history. And I like the name. And then DCUC- when you don't have to say it, say the full name. People understand the acronym. And if you're a military guy, it's all acronyms. So it works for us too.

Mike Ensweiler
That is for sure. OK, before we wrap up, Tony, I want to highlight one standout benefit from this new ALM First-DCUC partnership. We're offering a 15% discount to first-time registrants from DCUC member credit unions for signature events. With the Financial Institute coming up in March- and as you mentioned, the Forum in September- can you share a little bit from your perspective why these conferences are so valuable for credit union leaders and how our members can make sure they take advantage of that discount?

Anthony Hernandez
Yeah, well, we're going to promote it a lot, especially the first part of the year so people can make plans on going and just promote the value. I think it's important for people to go. Like I said, I've been to ALM First events and they're great. I learned something on it and that's hard to do, right? Not really, but I always learned something, right? The quality of the speakers are good, the discussions are even better. And I think, I don't think- I believe- that members who have never been to an ALM first event would gain a lot from coming and I see them as return attendees the next year because they're just great events.
 
It's kind of like- I’m not just saying I've been to events, and I can speak to it myself and that's where I see the value. Plus, we can work with some of our member credit unions that have been to it to get statements of support that we can promote at our conferences and our events as well. And so look for more of that this year. 

My goal with all our partners, like ALM First and the other ones that we've signed is, ‘how do I help you succeed in what you're offering? Because when you succeed, then we succeed.’ And that's the true meaning of a partnership. And so, I'm excited that we signed the deal and you and I took the picture and, now we go to work, and we make great things happen, for each of our members and our clients.

Mike Ensweiler
Yeah, make the industry stronger. I'm, I'm with you 100%. So, finally as we launch into the new year, what's one key piece of advice you'd give to credit union leaders, especially those serving military and veteran communities or those who serve in general as we talked about as they navigate today's ever evolving financial landscape.

Anthony Hernandez
I think we've always said that DCUC can write letters to Congress and they'll take the letters and consider it. But the actual constituent are those credit unions themselves and the staff. And so my advice to CEOs would be, “Remember what I said about who we are and what we represent? It would be to find stories or instances where the credit union helped a veteran and fold that into a vignette that they can put in a letter.” Or talking with their member of Congress about all the good things those credit unions do. And so my advice is, “don't forget service to veterans because that's a winning issue.” And then we need their help at the local level- because all politics is local- on building those relationships on Capitol Hill. And like you said, especially with the midterms coming up and Congress changing hands, that's going to be very important. So when you can remember to add a veteran story in your PR- that that credit unions do that- that's just a winning combination.

Mike Ensweiler
Well, this has been very enlightening, and I really appreciate your time, Tony. On behalf of ALM First and as a family member of active-duty military members and veterans, thank you so much for all the work that you do. It really does make a difference and thank you for joining us today.

DISCLAIMER

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The content in this podcast is provided for information purposes and should not be relied upon as recommendations for financial planning advice. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding all investment decisions. Current and future holdings are subject to risk and past performance has no guarantee of future results. Podcasts should not be copied, distributed, published or reproduced in whole or in part. Information presented herein is for discussion and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities.

The views and opinions expressed by the ALM First financial Advisors speakers are their own as of the date of the recording. Any such views are subject to change at any time based upon market or other conditions, and ALM First Financial Advisors disclaims any responsibility to update such views. These views should not be relied on as investment advice and, because investment decisions are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent on behalf of any ALM First Financial Advisors product. Neither ALM First Financial Advisors nor the Speaker can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered. ALM First Financial Advisors is an SEC-registered investment advisor with a fiduciary duty that requires it to act in the best interest of clients and to place the interest of clients before its own. However, registration as an investment advisor does not imply any level of skill or training.

Anthony Hernandez is the President and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC). DCUC has a strategic partnership with ALM First Financial Advisors. Mr. Hernandez is not a client of ALM First Financial Advisors. His statements reflect his personal views and experience and are not intended as investment advice or a guarantee of future results.

DCUC and its representatives may receive non-cash benefits in connection with this partnership, including event sponsorships, marketing support, and access to educational programming. No cash compensation was provided to Mr. Hernandez for his participation in this podcast.

ALM First Financial Advisors and the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) maintain a strategic partnership focused on educational programming and industry events. This partnership involves reciprocal promotion and non-cash benefits, including conference sponsorships and member access to educational offerings. The partnership does not involve the provision of investment advice by DCUC, nor does it affect the fiduciary obligations of ALM First Financial Advisors to its clients.

DCUC member credit unions may be eligible for a 15% registration discount for select ALM First Financial Advisors events. The discount is available to first-time registrants only and is offered as part of ALM First’s strategic partnership with DCUC. Receipt of this discount does not imply endorsement of ALM First Financial Advisors’ advisory services, nor does it affect the fees paid by advisory clients.