The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a lot of changes for credit unions. New compliance measures. New forbearance guidance. Operational priorities.
Early in the pandemic, unemployment rates were high. Unemployment insurance fraud spiked. At the same time, the landscape of automatic deposits was changing.
Del Norte Credit Union (DNCU) is based in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. With just over $1b in assets, DNCU has a lean operation and outsources many of its audits. Their internal risk management activities are focused on managing their outsourced audits and running ongoing quality control and monitoring activities.
Being a credit union auditor can be pretty straightforward. Balance risk, enhance reporting, and optimize performance. But COVID-19 threw a wrench in the standard.
Running an audit can be stressful and is always time-consuming. More planning and structure at the beginning improve efficiency in subsequent stages.
We created our credit union audit checklist to give auditors a head start in both annual NCUA exams and audits. This is especially critical if you’re short-staffed or your business units have limited bandwidth.
Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and their member base is spread across every state in the union. At over $10b in assets, DCU’s audit department had their hands full. Coordinating their audit activities and business units required quite a bit of management.
Credit Union of Southern California (CU SoCal) is a credit union that serves Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. They are relatively large at over $2.4b, so they require a robust audit program. In addition to the usual business units and experts, they support a two person audit team that coordinates and executes audit activities.
The last few months have undeniably created unique situations for credit unions. The way members are interacting with their branches, the expectations of employees, and the requirements by the NCUA have all been through changes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some things seem so obvious after they’ve been invented and gotten popular. Think: the wheel instead of walking. Netflix instead of renting. Texting instead of calling. Sliced bread instead of… whatever came before that. But where things weren’t always so simple.
A recent report from the Institute of Internal Auditors found that directors of corporate boards are overconfident in their organization’s ability to handle major risks. This overconfidence affects top-down compliance strategy, which carries significant repercussions.
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