The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues understand the seriousness of the situation in Ukraine and the security concerns it has raised in our states, across the country, and globally. While we hope the military escalation ends swiftly and peacefully, it is important to reassure your members that their money is safe and secure at the credit union. This is a rapidly evolving situation and helping members through emergencies and crises like these are what credit unions do best. Here are a few key points we recommend communicating with your members:

• The safest place for your money is in your credit union account. There is no risk to keeping money in a credit union account. However, there are many risks to having cash in hand.
• Credit unions are strong and can withstand this type of global crisis, just as they did at the start of the pandemic.
• All credit union deposits are insured up to $250,000 per account through the National Credit Union Association (NCUA). This insurance is the exact same that banks have with the FDIC.
  
  

Fraud and scams also tend to reach a higher level during times like these and credit unions and their cybersecurity teams are encouraged to adopt a heightened state of awareness and to conduct proactive threat hunting. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) recently created the Automated Cybersecurity Evaluation Toolbox (ACET) for federally insured credit unions to evaluate their cybersecurity posture. For more information, please visit the NCUA’s cybersecurity resources website.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued two alerts addressing risks from Russian State-Sponsored cyber threats and highlighting recent malicious cyber incidents suffered by public and private entities in Ukraine.

If your credit union experiences a cyber incident, please contact the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues immediately as well as the FBI’s 24/7 Cyber Watch at 855-292-3937 or CyWatch@fbi.gov. 

Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund
The Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund has been established to send support to Ukraine's credit union system and those that look to it for support. Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) in partnership with the World Council (WOCCU), is leveraging their global network to identify the immediate priority areas where funding can be used to support displaced credit union members and staff. If you would like to donate to this fund, click here.  

Tweet