This week, more than 6,000 credit union leaders from across the country are gathering in Washington, D.C., for America’s Credit Unions’ Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC).

We are all here to advocate for policies that expand opportunity for the more than 145 million Americans who rely on credit unions as their trusted financial partner. We are here to share their members’ stories directly with lawmakers and regulators. And this year, we are here with renewed vigor to focus on one goal: to protect, empower, and advance cooperative finance.

At a moment when families are navigating rising costs and small businesses are searching for stability, credit unions continue to provide safe, affordable financial services rooted in community trust. But at the same time, the nation’s largest banks and their trade associations are once again ramping up attacks on the credit union model in Washington.

Every few months, we hear the same argument. Big banks claim that credit unions, by virtue of their not-for-profit tax status, represent a distortion of the financial services market. Their latest critique now includes the suggestion that when credit unions invest in certain things, it is somehow evidence that they are flush with excess capital and no longer require their tax status. Big banks believe Congress should treat credit unions’ evolution with modern society as proof that the cooperative model has stopped meeting its mission.

This reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how credit unions operate.

Credit unions are not for profit, member-owned cooperatives that succeed only when their members do. They do not answer to shareholders or prioritize quarterly earnings calls. When credit unions perform well, those benefits are returned directly to the people they serve in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings yields, fewer fees, and reinvestment in local communities.

Once the model of cooperative finance is fully understood, the logic behind banker messaging evaporates.

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As advocates meet with policymakers throughout GAC week, they are making the case for expanding access to cooperative financial services. But they are also ensuring that misinformation does not go unanswered. Claims that credit unions use their tax status to crowd out community banks collapse under even cursory examination.

Bank to credit union mergers are voluntary, market-based transactions approved by the selling institution’s board of directors. In many cases, these transactions preserve local access to financial services that might otherwise disappear entirely as traditional banks continue to retreat from communities they once served. More than 20,000 bank branches have closed nationwide since 2012, while credit unions have moved in the opposite direction by opening a net 673 branches during that same period.

Independent research from American University shows that the presence of credit unions in local markets drives down costs and improves financial products for consumers across the board. Americans benefit by roughly $23 billion each year due to the competitive pressure because credit unions are in the marketplace.

If that is a distortion, it is one that consumers clearly support. And it is precisely why advocacy matters.

This week’s GAC is about equipping credit union leaders and members with the tools they need to protect and advance that impact during their conversations with policymakers back home and on Capitol Hill. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear directly from federal regulators, members of Congress, and our all-star Advocacy team to learn how to most effectively make credit union voices heard in the halls of policymaking.

Credit unions have always been powered by their members. Preserving the credit union difference will require vigilance, engagement, and a willingness to push back against narratives that do not reflect the reality experienced by millions of Americans every day.

We know we are up for the challenge.

Together, we can ensure that cooperative finance continues to deliver opportunity, resilience, and financial security for generations to come.