The arrival of the GENIUS Act has forced many credit unions to confront a question they have long approached with caution: what happens when stablecoins move from the experimental edges of the financial system into the mainstream of U.S. payments?

The Act, which for the first time creates a federal regulatory framework for dollar-backed “payment stablecoins,” has shifted the discussion from hypotheticals to planning sessions, prompting even traditionally conservative institutions to rethink their timelines for innovation.

For many community financial institutions, the challenge is not simply whether to issue a stablecoin or support digital-asset custody. Instead, it is a broader reckoning with how technology might reshape everyday transactions—interchange revenue, merchant dynamics, member expectations, and the competitive boundaries that separate regulated credit unions from fast-moving fintech platforms.

The implications, executives say, are difficult to ignore.

At Members 1st Federal Credit Union in Enola, Pennsylvania, the shift has been particularly striking. The $8.3 billion credit union is one of the few in the country that develops and owns its own mobile and online banking platforms, a strategy that has long allowed it to move more independently than its peers. Even so, its leadership has found themselves responding to the GENIUS Act with unusual urgency.

Mike Wilson, the institution’s president and chief executive, said he has been “getting very familiar with the GENIUS Act” after what he described as the legislation’s rapid emergence. While he understands why some peers believe stablecoins remain early in their development, he said he does “not think it’s responsible to tune it out or ignore it.”

Wilson said he sees stablecoins not as a niche consumer product but as a potential shift in how money moves through the economy. Any change to payments infrastructure, he noted, inevitably affects merchants, interchange revenues and the economic pipelines on which many credit unions depend.

“One thing that we’re monitoring closely is what is going to be the impact in terms of interchange and how the merchants are adapting with the provisions of the GENIUS Act,” he said, calling it “the biggest area that people need to be educated on.”

Part of that vigilance, he added, includes monitoring competition from digital-asset platforms. Wilson pointed to “platforms like Coinbase,” which, despite not being chartered financial institutions, “offer rewards-based systems that can incentivize consumers to house deposits within those platforms.” The concern is not abstract; if younger members begin treating these platforms as de facto financial homes, the deposit base that community institutions rely on could erode.

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To address that risk, Wilson said, credit unions will need to expand their educational role. He emphasized the importance of explaining to members that such platforms “are not insured and do not have the same fraud protections” as regulated institutions. That responsibility, he suggested, will grow as consumers confront an increasingly complex financial landscape.

Members 1st is already preparing internally.

The credit union is reviewing outflows to crypto platforms, studying how younger segments behave with digital assets, and keeping close watch on data tied to merchants and interchange. Wilson said the credit union is bringing in speakers to educate leadership and tracking developments in Congress and at trade associations. Stablecoins may feel early, he acknowledged, but once Congress establishes a regulatory foundation “it is no longer a shiny object.”

Other credit union leaders share the sense of preparing for a shift whose timing remains uncertain.

At Deseret First Credit Union in Utah, president and chief executive Shane London said the credit union is still evaluating how stablecoins might fit into its operations and member experience. “It is coming and we are strategizing for it,” he said, but noted the institution remains in “the assessment phase and trying to determine the value proposition and then its overall impact.” London said he is participating in multiple web events as part of the credit union’s research process.

In Ohio, Pathways Financial Credit Union is taking a similarly cautious approach. Chief executive Mike Shafer said the credit union is “in the very early stages of educating ourselves on stable coins and how/if we should offer access to them through our credit union.” Like many of his peers, Shafer emphasized that the landscape is still taking shape: “It is still very early, and we are waiting to see how the landscape develops.”

Taken together, the perspectives reflect an industry not yet convinced of the immediate utility of stablecoins but increasingly aware that the environment around them is changing. The technology is advancing, merchants are experimenting, Congress has acted, and consumer expectations—particularly among younger members—are evolving. For credit unions built around long-term relationships and steady risk management, the challenge is no longer deciding whether the digital-asset era matters. It is determining how to engage with it without compromising the trust and safety that define their role in local communities.

As the GENIUS Act takes hold, many credit unions appear to be approaching the moment with the same pragmatism that has guided them for decades: steady research, internal preparation, close attention to member needs, and a willingness to adapt when the time is right. Whether stablecoins ultimately upend payments or simply become another rail among many, the decisions credit unions make in the coming years may shape how they compete—and whom they serve—in a financial system that is accelerating around them.