A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP Risk Management

As difficult as it might be to admit, credit unions are in the business of risk. You can limit it, and you can work to control it, but you cannot completely avoid it. In fact, if you are not taking enough risk in serving your members, there are consumers in your community being left behind.

Risks are measured by both likelihood and impact. A good exercise for your board to consider is to look at risks in your environment and discuss both the likelihood of each and the impact it could have on your credit union’s growth, strategy, and success.

According to an NC State ERM initiative report, these are the top near-term risks for 2026-2028.

1. Cyber threats
2. Third-party risks
3. Adoption of emerging technologies
4. Legacy IT infrastructure performance gaps
5. Economic conditions, including inflation
6. AI implementation risks
7. Talent acquisition and retention challenges
8. Regulatory uncertainty and fragmentation
9. Labor availability
10. Global market and trade policy changes

Those may or may not be the risks you choose to rank and discuss. You may have a pending issue with a major employer in your community, a vendor challenge, or a reputation risk to substitute. The important thing is that you get the risks on the table and discuss some potential ways to prepare for and combat them.

The NC State report also noted an important feature: the top risk identified by board members was cyber threats, and by CEOs it was talent and labor availability. Make sure you are getting a broad perspective for your dialogue.