General Coronavirus Resources
Last Reviewed: May 2020
COVID-19 is the short name for Coronavirus Disease 2019. COVID-19 is a new disease and was named by the World Health Organization on February 11, 2020. On March 11, 2020 COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
Credit unions play an important role in the safety of their community, members and employees. As such, the credit union should visit the CDC’s website for the most up to date information on ongoing mitigation.
General Coronavirus Resources: FAQs
FAQs from the CDC
The CDC website has a number of FAQs on topics related to Coronavirus and the workplace:
- Cleaning and Disinfection in the Workplace
- Critical Infrastructure
- Healthy Business Operations
- Reducing the Spread of COVID-19 in Workplaces
- Suspected or Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in the Workplace
General Coronavirus Resources: Marketing and Print Resources
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CU Solutions Group is offering free video content to credit unions to help ease concerns of their members. These videos can be downloaded and used within credit union's local media campaigns.
General Coronavirus Resources: Best Practices
Pandemic Preparedness Webinar – Credit Unions and Leagues/Associations
Note: The webinar begins at the 5 second mark
As with many industries, the global pandemic COVID-19 has significantly changed how credit unions go about day-to-day operations, forcing credit union leaders to figure out how to maintain high-quality service to members while keeping members and employees safe. And as they always do in tough economic situations, many credit unions are offering financial hardship programs to help their members weather these unprecedented circumstances.
Here are some examples of programs credit unions can implement to meet their members’ changing needs.
Accounts
- Increase courtesy pay protection
- Eliminate consumer/business checking account fees for certain months
- Increase mobile deposit limits
- Increase limits on ATM and debit cards, no fees
- Waive early withdrawal penalties
- Offer training modules and tips to increase online banking and remote options
Lending
- Deferring three full months of loan payments
- Offering creative and low interest relief loans
- Lowering interest rates
- Providing loans with 0% for the first 6 months, increasing to a modest fixed term for remainder – personal loans – no collateral
- Increasing credit limits on credit cards
- Increasing businesses lines of credit
- Eliminating late fees
Community Support
- Grants to community organizations
- Donations/Support continue even when events are cancelled
- Provide positive messages to community/members
- Financial counseling
- Outbound calls to elder members – additional assistance provided (grocery shopping or providing other household assistance)
- Appointments for members 60 and older, only during certain periods of time (e.g., 8am – 9am).
- Donating excess supplies to hospitals
Staff Support
- Giving all employees a lump-sum bonus
- Increasing hourly pay for frontline staff
- Increasing PTO allotment and/or allowing staff to draw their PTO bank negative
General Coronavirus Resources: Additional Resources
- CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) - CDC.gov
- CFPB Consumer Resource – Mortgage and Housing Assistance During Coronavirus
- CFPB Financial Resources for Consumers
- COVID-19 What's New
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to COVID-19
- Pandemic Planning Resource Document for Credit Unions
- US Chamber of Commerce – Resources & Guidelines for Business
- WOCCU – Guide for Credit Unions – Regulator and Operational Responses
Small Business Resources
General Coronavirus Resources: Model Policies
Model Policies
The following policies were created in response to COVID-19 and are also available in CU PolicyPro:
- Model Policy 2196: Telecommuting
- Model Policy 7436: CARES Act – Small Business Administration (SBA) Loans
- Model Policy 7437: Main Street Lending - Federal Reserve Program
We recommend reviewing your own policies to see if this policy or similar policies have already been customized and are in use by your credit union. If you're not sure if your credit union subscribes to CU PolicyPro, contact policysupport@cusolutionsgroup.com for assistance.
Sample Procedures