years with the explosion in ….

years with the explosion in cellphone applications and programs. “Every day it seems there is something different,” she said.

She notes services such as Venmo and Zelle offer new payment methods. “That has just changed tremendously,” she said. “It is almost overwhelming,” she said.

Just as overwhelming has been the rise in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

With the rise in new technologies there has also been a rise in fraud as unscrupulous people continue to try to steal from others.

Woods said she sees it as a major responsibility for credit unions to help people understand fraud and educate members on the steps they can take to reduce and prevent themselves from being victims of fraud.

“Fraud has mushroomed throughout the pandemic,” she said.

While they are seeing new fraud schemes emerging, there has also been a resurgence in old schemes such as people being given fake checks or people buying stuff over the internet and not getting their merchandise. Woods describes the internet as being a tremendous catalyst for fraud. She said they work to educate members with developing spending plans and helping them not get sucked into fraud.

Just as times and opportunities for fraud have changed, so have the regulations that credit unions and other financial institutions have to operate under.

She said the first explosion in regulation was following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the passage of the Patriot Act which had major changes on financial transactions. She said another wave of changes came shortly after the 2008 bubble and for a few years she said it seemed there was one new rule after another. Rules again changed over 2010 and 2011 and continue to grow in layers of complexity. This presents a challenge for those who work in credit unions and other financial institutions as they have to know and follow these rules.

“Regulation isn’t always bad,” Woods said, noting that many times regulations are changed to provide protections to their members. “They are there to protect consumers,” she said, noting that consumers also share the burden of protecting themselves and hold some responsibility with the choices they make.

Increasing consolidation in financial institutions is an ongoing challenge facing credit unions and communities across the country.

“There is still a purpose for a small credit union,” Woods said, explaining that smaller credit unions have much greater ties to their individual communities and are focused on the communities they are located in and service. “Bigger is not always the answer,” she said.

While Taylor Credit Union’s goal is to continue to grow over time, Woods said the credit unions seeks to grow at a steady pace as they retain their commitment in being a local financial institution and providing for financial services to members.

She said she sees participating in building the community and caring for the people they serve as being important for the credit union going forward.

She said with giant financial institutions it is possible for them to lose sight of the community. She said there is real value in people being able to recognize leadership both the credit union management and members of the board of directors.

“It is important for people to see each other,” she said. “Supporting each other as a community is very important.”

For Woods it comes down to the core values of compassion, trust and empathy as they work cooperatively with their members to continue to build strong communities.