Fighting Fraud - America’s Credit Unions

“It can be tireless and thankless at times, but any intervention that helps save a member from a scammer, helps them recover their funds, is important.” – Andrew Morris Thank you for tuning in to The CUInsight Network, with your host, Robbie Young, Vice President of Strategic Growth at CUInsight. In The CUInsight Network, we take a deeper dive with the thought leaders who support the credit union community. We discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions and identify best practices to learn and grow together. My guest on today’s show is Andrew Morris, Director of Innovation and Technology at America’s Credit Unions. He joins me for this episode to discuss one of the biggest challenges that is currently facing our industry: fraud. As scams become increasingly sophisticated and technology continues to evolve, how can credit unions better protect their members while ensuring our laws and regulations keep pace? Andrew shares his journey from financial regulatory policy into technology and innovation advocacy, along with how America’s Credit Unions works to translate credit unions’ real-world experiences into recommendations for lawmakers and regulators, and we discuss the organization’s cybersecurity, fraud, and vendor risk resources, including educational tools to help credit unions prepare their teams and keep members informed. Throughout our conversation, we explore some practical strategies for strengthening fraud prevention, from demonstrating how AI-powered impersonation scams can be very convincing to adopting fraud-detection technologies and sharing information with other financial institutions. Andrew explains why even tech-savvy individuals can fall victim to especially sophisticated scams, the particular challenges of romance scams, and why tackling fraud requires collaboration beyond the financial services industry. Andrew also breaks down the challenges posed by outdated check-funds availability rules and explains how current frameworks can create opportunities for fraudsters. As we wrap up the conversation, Andrew shares how credit unions can help shape the conversation in Washington, highlighting the importance of personal member stories when advocating to lawmakers and other details when working with regulators. We also look at America’s Credit Unions’ priorities for the road ahead, including check fraud, information sharing, emerging technologies, and cross-sector collaboration. We also, as usual, undergo a fun series of rapid-fire questions about leadership, nature photography, favorite travel destinations, must-read books, and finding work-life balance. Enjoy my conversation with Andrew Morris!  Connect with Andrew: Andrew Morris, Director of Innovation and Technology at America’s Credit Unions americascreditunions.org Andrew: LinkedIn America’s Credit Unions: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube Want to hear more from Andrew? Click here. Shout-out: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Event mentioned: Great Recession Law mentioned: GENIUS Act Law mentioned: Regulation CC Shout-out: FBI Shout-out: FTC Shout-out: DOJ Shout-out: IRS Place mentioned: Washington DC Shout-out: Congress Law mentioned: Bank Secrecy Act Law mentioned: STOP Payments Fraud Act of 2026 Law mentioned: TRAPS Act Shout-out: FCC Shout-out: Andrew’s college soccer captain Place mentioned: New York City, NY Place mentioned: New Orleans, LA Book mentioned: The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age by Walter A. McDougall Event mentioned: Sputnik 1 Place mentioned: Soviet Union In this episode: [0:47] - Hear how Andrew’s career evolved from financial regulatory policy into technology-focused advocacy for credit unions. [3:12] - Andrew translates credit unions’ fraud concerns into targeted policy recommendations and more effective regulatory interventions. [6:28] - America's Credit Unions provides fraud prevention resources, advocacy opportunities, and engagement with regulators. [8:09] - Member education, AI-powered detection tools, and information sharing can strengthen credit unions’ fraud prevention strategies. [11:55] - As scams become more convincing, fraud prevention requires vigilance, financial institution collaboration, and stronger social media platform accountability. [14:46] - Outdated check-funds availability rules create vulnerabilities that criminals exploit before financial institutions can investigate suspected fraud. [17:41] - Andrew highlights AI impersonation risks and the need for stronger oversight of AI developers. [19:39] - Hear how subsidized AI defenses could help credit unions counter increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks without unsustainable costs. [22:36] - Personal success stories resonate with lawmakers, whereas regulators need operational details to improve fraud prevention. [25:07] - What is ACU’s focus for the road ahead? [27:33] - Hear why Andrew admired his pickup soccer team captain in college. [28:30] - If Andrew were to splurge on something, it would probably be a really nice camera. [29:33] - Andrew touches upon his love for New York City. [29:57] - Andrew recommends the book The Heavens and the Earth which explores how the Sputnik crisis shaped American technology policy and education. [31:24] - Effective work-life balance requires constantly prioritizing what matters now and accepting what can wait. [32:14] - Andrew thanks frontline credit union professionals for protecting members and demonstrating relationship-focused banking’s value.