Worcester Business Journal

22 Worcester Business Journal | November 8, 2021 | wbjournal.com CALL FOR NOMINATIONS! Honorees will be profiled in the March 7, 2022 edition of Worcester Business Journal and will be honored at a special ceremony in late March. Know someone worthy of one of these awards? NOMINATE THEM TODAY! Nomination deadline: January 21, 2022 Further details and nomination form at www.wbjournal.com/businessleaders This special edition and event honors top business leaders in Central Massachusetts for their companies' successes and contributions to the community. Our Business Leaders of the Year will be recognized in the categories of small and large business, nonprofit, innovator and Family Business Leader of the Year. In addition, we'll honor a select group of Central Massachusetts business leaders in our sixth annual Hall of Fame awards. Worcester Business Journal WBJ F O C U S B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E Local Business News Reliable news to your inbox every weekday. SIGN UP HERE >> Worcester Business Journal WBJ wbjournal.com/enewsletters good business owners," Foley said. Undermining confidence in banking In 2015, the IRS was hacked, and the social security numbers of nearly 700,000 Americans were compromised. is history undermines people's confidence in the government to keep their information secure, said Murphy. If banks and credit unions were required to give over more information about account holders, then people would be less confident in financial institutions, too, she said. "Our industry puts protection of consumer data at its highest priority, and quite frankly the banking industry under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act has the most consumer privacy requirements compared to any entity, any business in the country and we take that very seriously," she said. According to a 2019 survey from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 95% of all American households utilize a bank or credit union account. is figure is the highest number and percentage of accounts since the survey was first conducted in 2009. Still, 7.1 million households remained unbanked, according to FDIC is aspect of undermining trust would especially impact credit unions since they serve people who typically cannot access traditional banking services. "Credit unions have a rich and proud history of serving the underserved," said Ronald McLean, president and CEO of the Cooperative Credit Union Association. Credit union stakeholders sent nearly 600,000 messages to Congress expressing concern over the proposed additional reporting requirements, said Barbara Mahoney, president and CEO of Leominster Credit Union. "We feel that Congress should not pursue these goals with a program that will almost certainly discourage Barbara Mahoney, CEO, Leominster Credit Union Ronald McLean, CEO, Cooperative Credit Union Association Continued from previous page

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