Washington, DC., March 3, 2025 – York Public Relations, the nation’s leading public relations and marketing firm serving financial institutions and fintechs, announced today at the Government Affairs Conference 2025 a new crisis communications term service, exclusively for credit unions. The service provides credit unions with immediate expert public relations counsel and representation for crisis events.
“Credit unions have insurance to cover tangible losses and business continuity plans to navigate disruptions to their business, but few have an adequate plan or expert representation prepared to handle a possible reputational disaster,” said York Public Relations CEO, Mary York. “News spreads quickly through digital and social media. The smallest incidents can escalate into national headlines, and most PR firms or internal resources are not experienced to deal with financial crisis communications. Like a term insurance policy, our team of financial industry crisis experts are immediately ready to help credit unions minimize and help repair damage caused by an unforeseen incident.”
Technology failures, civil and criminal suits, as well as geopolitical and natural disasters are all possible scenarios that credit unions might encounter. Another increasing risk is data breaches, which has been cited as a top reason for members to switch financial institution. Hundreds of thousands of consumers were impacted by data breaches at their credit union last year, and several more have been reported since the start of the year.
Additionally, credit unions can spend as much as 3,000 hours mitigating a crisis if not managed appropriately from the onset, especially those that impact members. Crises can also have long-term damaging effects. As an example, credit unions seeking an acquisition may see that deal terminated due to perceived risk. It is not uncommon for a crisis PR agency relationship to be established prior to negotiations. Credit unions may also face substantial challenges with growth if members lose confidence.
York adds, “M&A activity is expected to continue through 2025. While there is clear value, there is also risk, especially as financial institutions combine systems. We’ve seen system failures quickly turn into a crisis that took credit unions months, even years, to recover from. There are also risks when combining staffs and potential workplace culture challenges that must be addressed. For any credit union exploring either acquiring or to be acquired, they must demonstrate a sound ability to mitigate a crisis without long-term damage.”
To navigate such issues, York Public Relations’ comprehensive coverage provides credit unions with:
- Crisis public relations consulting
- A custom crisis preparedness guide with documented protocols, checklists, and message frameworks
- Media and related outbound representation
- All written communication, including memos and press statements
- Social media monitoring, reported on monthly
About York Public Relations
York Public Relations is the nation’s leading public relations and marketing firm dedicated exclusively to financial institutions and fintechs. The firm offers Public Relations, Media Relations, Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Creative Marketing and Crisis Communication services. Total funding of its client base exceeds $2 billion and represents over 8,500 financial institutions. For more information, please visit www.yorkpublicrelations.com. For information regarding services, please contact us at info@yorkpublicrelations.com.