Published by CUEvangelist – January 28, 2026

In a world racing toward automation and using AI…

🏦 Credit unions have a quiet advantage that no algorithm can replicate.

🫂 We’re centered around people!

The credit union difference isn’t found in an app or a chatbot.

It’s found in the credit union philosophy of People Helping People. 🤝

It’s lived out in real decisions, real service, and real consideration for members that are standing on the other side of the counter.

As leaders, we must never forget to keep returning back to the basics:
☑️ Member-ownership
☑️ Service
☑️ Financial inclusion and wellness
☑️ Human judgment and oversight

The credit union motto helps to reminds us that we are:
✨ “Not for Profit. Not for Charity. But for Service.”

This shouldn’t be just rhetoric, but it should be a governance and leadership check.

🚫 Because if we ever become “profits before people” institutions that merely talk about people, we’ll drift into the very thing we were created to be an alternative to.

✅ Yes—embrace innovation.
✅ Yes—use AI responsibly.
✔️ But never let efficiency replace empathy.
✔️ Always, put people before profits.

Serve members as humans and not metrics. Lest we forget!

Mark S. Brantley, Esq. is currently known as the CUEvangelist – “Spreading the Good News About CUs!” Mark is also an Asst. Director of Operations at Arizona State University and was the former vice-chairman of the AACUC, former board member of America’s Credit Unions (formerly CUNA), and former Chairman of the Municipal Credit Union. He has written numerous articles and white papers on credit union advocacy, legislative, and regulatory matters.