Around the States

Credit Unions and the Consolidation Curve

Mergers and acquisitions are rife within the credit union industry. They have been at the forefront of industry news, discussions, and predictions for years now, and are unlikely to step aside anytime soon.

Since 2010, there have been 2,676 credit union mergers (not including 2023), with the total number of federally-insured credit unions decreasing from 7,339 to 4,712. The necessity of these mergers has often been scrutinized and criticized, with opponents claiming they are simply the result of a failure to have a strong succession plan or stemming from a desire to increase a credit union’s size simply for the sake of scale, rather than a true need to merge for the betterment of the credit union and its members.

State of Maine Data Breach Impacts 1.3 Million People

The US State of Maine says it has suffered a data breach impacting around 1.3 million people. According to the census from July 2022, that’s more or less the the entire population of Maine. The State of Maine says it was compromised via a known vulnerability in secure transfer service MOVEit Transfer. This vulnerability is known to be used by the Cl0p ransomware gang.

The type of stolen data varies from person to person, likely because the data breach affected multiple agencies in the State. More than 50% of the data exposed in the breach came from Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, while between 10 and 30% came from the state’s Department of Education. The breach also impacted several other departments.

With National Elections Now Less Than a Year Away, Redesigned Credit Unions Vote Website is Unveiled

With the national elections now less than a year away, CUNA has relaunched its CreditUnionsVote.com site. The site is designed to get credit union members registered and ready to vote and provides resources and information voters need to engage in the elections, according to the association.