“Helping Consumers Stretch Their Dollars”

June 1, 2026

Issued By:
Thomas Hinton
President & CEO
American Consumer Council
San Diego, CA
(800)-544-0414
www.americanconsumercouncil.org

ACC’s Overall Performance in FY 2025-2026:

The American Consumer Council (ACC) is pleased to report high growth during the past fiscal year. As we begin our new budget year, ACC can report strong, continued growth in three key areas: Financial Performance, Membership Growth, and Credit Union Participation.

During the past fiscal year, the American Consumer Council experienced a significant increase in revenues, up 21.02% while expenses rose 13.58%.
ACC’s net assets increased by $457,833 during the past fiscal year.

ACC’s partnership with credit unions reached 156 SEG relationships as we closed our books on April 30, 2026. This reflects a growth of 15 credit unions from the previous year’s addition of 15 credit unions that were added. Five credit unions dropped ACC due to mergers, the creation of a foundation, and one due to budget cuts.

Individual memberships increased by 23% to over 458,000 and Business memberships increased by 36%. These are major increases for ACC that were largely fueled by deep concerns among consumers and businesses about the rising cost of gasoline and electricity for autos, daily goods and services including food, and uncertainty in the financial markets as the Trump Administration is embroiled in a war with Iran and economic conflicts with China and Russia.

As we begin our new fiscal year, American consumers tell us their primary concerns continue to be affordability and the cost of everyday needs, preserving Social Security and Medicare, as well as the lack of Congressional action to focus on major issues that will determine how consumers can stretch their limited income in 2026-2027. Their key issues in order of importance are: the “Affordability Factor.” The rising cost of food and gas prices, affordable Health Insurance, rising cost of drug prescription, the availability of housing; and serious tax reform for middle class families.

Consumer Education:

ACC’s financial education video series continues to attract Millennials and Gen Z’ers (18-35 year-olds) who seek short, topic-specific videos that address how to make money, save money and invest it wisely. Viewership of ACC’s financial education videos is up 32% over the previous year as ACC attracts more 18-35 year old members who are entering their peak spending years. These videos can be viewed on the ACC website: www.americanconsumercouncil.org The videos are sponsored by ACC and provided at no charge to our members and credit union partners.

As part of our education commitment to consumers, ACC completed a major upgrade of its website: www.americanconsumercouncil.org We now have two language versions on our website – English and Spanish – that will help us reach the fast-growing Spanish-speaking market across the country.

Also, ACC has invested heavily in data security to ensure its websites and membership database are resistant to hackers and data theft.

2025-2026 Forecast:

ACC anticipates our organization will continue to grow by double digits in the areas of individual membership, business memberships, and credit union participation. More American consumers are registering to vote and joining pro-active organizations like ACC as a means to improve their financial future by joining one of ACC’s trusted credit union partners and lending their voices to important economic concerns that ACC is addressing that are impacting our members’ financial stability and growth.

We also anticipate the number of small businesses will continue to grow as ACC creates more opportunities through its Small Business Success program. Credit Unions are a key partner in helping ACC reach small businesses.

ACC is mildly optimistic about the American economy through 2026 despite and we expect a shift in the Congressional political power We expect economic growth to be 2.1%, with inflation remaining at 2.25%. The unemployment rate is expected to peak at 4.4%. Also, it appears the Federal Reserve Bank is poised to keep interest rates at their current level despite a change in the Fed’s leadership.

As ACC’s membership continues to grow, the current pace of membership growth is projected to be at least 18% in FY 2026-2027 with business memberships continuing to grow at 24%.

ACC’s revenue growth is projected at 18% while expenses will increase by 14%.

2026 Annual Meeting:

In compliance with our Bylaws, ACC will hold its 2026 annual meeting on Friday, August 14, 2026 at 9:00 am EDT at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia. This annual meeting will be limited to the ACC Board of Directors and ACC’s Advisory Council Members. However, members and guests may participate virtually via ACC’s conference call service.

For more information, please email ACC at: info@americanconsumerconference.org

Thanks to ACC’s Board:

We are grateful to ACC’s Board of Directors for their commitment to serve our association during this period, and for their support as we continue to work towards fulfilling our mission of consumer advocacy, financial education, and corporate social responsibility.

We are especially grateful to David Romanski, Esq. who will step down as Chairman of ACC after serving two consecutive terms. Barbara Yager, J.D. will assume the Chairmanship at ACC’s August 2026 annual meeting. Karen Torre, J.D. will assume the role as Secretary of the Board.