Why governance is getting both harder and smarter for credit unions
- Andrew Lingley
- May 14
- 3 min read
In 2025, credit union boards are navigating a growing tension between rising oversight demands and shrinking volunteer bandwidth. Ageing director pipelines, expanding digital and compliance responsibilities, and increasingly blurred executive boundaries are all reshaping the governance landscape. From committee-led onboarding to the adoption of paid board roles, leading credit unions are rethinking how governance functions - not as a formality, but as a driver of performance, resilience, and trust.
More responsibility, less resources
For companies today, governance isn’t just a regulatory requirement; it’s a strategic differentiator. For credit unions, however, the model is under strain. Board expectations have never been higher, while time, bandwidth, and pipelines of qualified directors have never felt thinner.
Drova’s Credit Union Outlook Report 2025 paints a challenging landscape for credit unions across the UK and Ireland, including:
Ongoing succession challenges and ageing board pipelines
Greater technical expectations around finance, IT, and compliance
A widening gap between regulatory requirements and volunteer capacity
Limited access to training and peer support
Blurred boundaries between strategic and operational decision-making
The need for greater clarity in board & executive roles
This growing governance load is reshaping board structures, accountability systems, and how credit unions think about performance at the highest level.
As Frank Doherty, CEO of Pennyburn Credit Union, puts it:
““The governance shift in credit unions over the past decade has been enormous. Where once boards were made up of local volunteers with time and passion, we’re now recruiting directors with deep technical expertise - finance, IT, risk, compliance. These are busy professionals, and the expectations have grown.
Today’s boards are not advisory, they’re fiduciary. The demands are high, and the informal benefits that once came with board service are long gone. We’re asking more - more time, more scrutiny, more accountability - and offering less of what made these roles attractive in the past. That tension is only going to grow unless the sector starts thinking creatively about how we support and retain board leaders who can carry this responsibility into the next decade.”
Boards are evolving beyond tradition
In response, forward-thinking credit unions are making deliberate shifts to address the mismatch between responsibility and resource. That evolution includes:
Committee-led onboarding: Streamlined, modular approaches that reduce new director ramp-up time and ensure alignment on fiduciary responsibilities.
Blended boards: Bringing in independent or specialist directors alongside traditional volunteer members to strengthen oversight on areas like cybersecurity, data governance, and risk.
Paid board roles: Remunerated board positions are being piloted, particularly in urban and mid-tier credit unions, as a way to attract and retain qualified governance talent.
Critically, these are not just structural tweaks; they reflect a deeper shift in how governance is being positioned. No longer passive or ceremonial, boards are starting to act as proactive stewards of strategy, risk, and performance.
Governance is becoming a system, not a meeting
The Outlook report highlights a consistent theme: credit unions that treat governance as a living system - not just a quarterly conversation - are better equipped to manage risk, retain board members, and respond to external scrutiny.
This shift requires better tools. As oversight becomes more continuous, credit unions are recognising the limitations of manual processes, shared drive folders, and disjointed policy libraries. Instead, they’re investing in purpose-built governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platforms to support:
Real-time policy tracking and version control
Linked risk registers and controls with clear accountability
Automated alerts tied to review cycles, audit trails, and committee deadlines
These tools don’t replace boards; they enable them. By making compliance and risk transparent and actionable, GRC platforms allow directors to focus on judgement and strategic guidance, not administration.
Clarity, continuity, and control
What once was considered good governance is now a baseline. Today, governance maturity is what sets resilient, forward-thinking companies apart.
Credit unions that invest in their governance infrastructure are not just responding to pressure, but laying the groundwork for stronger board succession, better member trust, and more resilient decision-making. In a sector built on trust, that’s a huge competitive advantage.
Drova GRC helps credit unions and their boards operate with clarity, linking policies, risks, audits, and committees in one unified system. For mutuals navigating generational change and rising regulatory stakes, it’s a way to keep governance grounded, visible, and forward-looking.
