Credit Union Times Magazine January-19, 2000

In Other News

• MILESTONES

  By Staff Writer

  Franklin Mint FCU (Media, Pa.) President/CEO John Unangst participated in an area 1999 Veteran's Day Parade, joined by former Sen. Bob Dole and U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, (R-Pa.). Unangst served as a 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Army Field Artillery (1968-1969); former Sen. Dole served in World War II in...

• DONATIONS

  By Staff Writer

  Coastal FCU, Raleigh, N.C., has held its first-ever blood drive at its main facility at 333 St. Albans Drive, and staff donated more than 30 pints blood to the American Red Cross. The 1st half of January is when traditionally it's hardest to boost blood supplies, said an American Red...

• AWARDS

  By Staff Writer

  Central Florida Educators FCU, Orlando, has named Kissimmee office-Assistant Branch Manager Micki Ruiz "Manager of the Quarter"; and lending department staff members David Stump and Amanda Pickup as recent "Employees of the Month." Members Prime Club, a non-profit association affiliated with CUNA Mutual Group, has learned that its membership magazine...

News

• FOLLOW THE LEADER

  By Staff Writer

  Will other DP providers follow cavion.com's lead and remove cost barriers to Net banking? ............................................Page 4

• Connecticut lawmaker to propose state law banning surcharging

  By Staff Writer

  HARTFORD - One month after the state Supreme Court overturned a ban against ATM surcharging issued by state Banking Commissioner John Burke and ruled in favor of three of the largest banks in the state and the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (CU Times, Jan. 5), Rep....

• How will I pay for retirement?

  By Staff Writer

  Current workers

• New York Banking Department ordered to adopt emergency ATM safety regulation

  By Staff Writer

  ALBANY - Gov. George Pataki has directed the state Banking Department to adopt an emergency regulation to aid law enforcement and increase ATM safety by requiring all ATM video surveillance tapes to be changed regularly. The regulation builds on the ATM Safety Act of 1996 signed by the governor which...

• Iowa Supt. of Banking takes appeal of surcharging decision to U.S. Supreme Court

  By Staff Writer

  DES MOINES, Iowa - Holmes Foster, state Superintendent of Banking plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling that would allow an out of state bank to place ATMs in the state.

• MONEY IN MEMBERS' POCKETS

  By Staff Writer

  New CUANJ discount real estate brokerage program means smaller commissions for broker, savings for members.....Page 12

• The changing face of retirement means changing education responsibilities for employers

  By Staff Writer

  MINNEAPOLIS - In the 1980's, most workers planned to retire at 65. It was the socially acceptable thing to do, and most of them concurred it was their earned right. But in the mid-eighties that trend came to an abrupt halt. The retirement scene has changed, and workers' new attitudes...

• Employee verification policy may be a lawsuit waiting to happen

  By Staff Writer

  ST. LOUIS - Picture this: It's the middle of a work day when your human resource department receives a phone call about a former employee, Mr. Smith, who's applying for a job at another company. The prospective employer is calling to verify Mr. Smith's employment with your credit union. Your...

• NASCUS advanced investment seminar planned for February

  By Staff Writer

  ARLINGTON, Va. - NASCUS plans to hold a two day advanced investment seminar Feb. 1 and 2 in Overland Park, Ks. that will cover new and emerging investment opportunities for state-chartered credit unions.

• Oregon Bankers Association issues talking points against surcharge ban

  By Staff Writer

  PORTLAND, Ore. - As momentum in the state mounts in favor of legislation banning ATM surcharging, the Oregon Bankers Association has published a list of talking points it's recommending bankers use to defeat the initiative.

• CUANJ hopeful discount real estate brokerage program will boost CUs' mortgage portfolios

  By Staff Writer

  HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. - Anybody who's ever sold a house is familiar with the figure of 6%. For years, that's been the standard commission sellers pay their real estate brokers, with 3% going to the buyer's agent and another 3% to the listing agent. But if a new program being offered...

News Briefs

• Concentrex offers online tax filing service

  By Staff Writer

  PORTLAND, Ore. - Tax time is just around the corner and with the proliferation of the Web, more Americans are expected to file electronically than ever before.

• Time for Diamond Awards entries

  By Staff Writer

  MADISON, Wis.-The deadline to enter the CUNA Marketing Council's 2000 Diamond Awards for credit union marketing is Jan. 28.

• Don Sheets, CU volunteer and advocate, succumbs to cancer

  By Staff Writer

  VENTURA, Calif. - Don Sheets, a founder and member of the board of directors of Point Mugu FCU and a longtime credit union volunteer and advocate died Jan. 1 from complications from cancer. He was 75.

• CUNA and Credit Union Village announce alliance

  By Staff Writer

  MADISON, Wis. - CUNA and Credit Union Village announced a strategic alliance that will make Credit Union Village a sales channel for CUNA products and services.

• Bank failures surge 167% says Weiss Ratings, Inc.

  By Staff Writer

  PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.-Despite a strong economy and a rising stock market, financial failures increased sharply from 1998 to 1999, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the independent ratings and analysis company here.

• CU Direct Lending expands services to New England

  By Staff Writer

  RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. - CU Direct Corp., which provides credit unions on the West Coast with point-of-sale automobile direct lending, has entered a marketing agreement with New England Credit Union Services LLC. to provide the Credit Union Direct LendingT program in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

• 27 state CU leagues support FundsXpress

  By Staff Writer

  AUSTIN, Texas - Tennessee has become the 27th state credit union league in the country to receive Internet banking support and other financial services from FundsXpress Inc.

• 50% of retailers plan to add ATMs next year

  By Staff Writer

  PORTLAND, Ore. - Despite ATM surcharge headlines, ATMs appear to be on the wish list for corporate America.

• Forget Y2K-here comes income taxes with a new way to pay

  By Staff Writer

  ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Hardly has the last drop of champagne been sipped during one of the strangest New Year's Eves in history when the Internal Revenue Service, never missing a beat, has somehow already managed to get income tax forms into the mail.

• Former credit union officials sentenced in fraud cases

  By Staff Writer

  FALL RIVER and BOSTON, Mass.-The first week of January was a busy but efficient week for United States Attorney Donald K. Stern and his Economic Crimes Unit here as two former credit union officials were sentenced for misapplication of funds and embezzlement in separate fraud cases.

• cavion.com unveils new price structure, challenges DP providers to remove other cost barriers to Net banking

  By Staff Writer

  DENVER - It's all about removing cost barriers for CUs looking to add Internet banking services, says Dave Selina, president/CEO of Internet services provider cavion.com here. cavion.com unveiled a revamped pricing structure of its Internet banking product that Selina believes will not only challenge other Net banking providers to be...

• Some post-Y2K glitches surface in financial and other sectors

  By Staff Writer

  RESTON, Va.-Y2K didn't pass as meekly into the history books as first thought during the days immediately following New Year's. Some post-Y2K glitches have surfaced that show what could happen if just one link of a long compliance chain failed. A Y2K-related glitch involving point-of-sale terminals reminded all involved with...

• NCUA board puts off strategic plan vote as resistance mounts

  By Staff Writer

  ALEXANDRIA, Va. - In the wake of persistent, withering criticism by CUNA and NAFCU, NCUA's draft 2000-2005 Strategic Plan-assailed as socially activist and as poaching on the preserve of the trade associations-was suddenly removed January 10 from the January 13 board agenda and shortly thereafter rescheduled for the February 24...

• Hopes arise that ABA chartering manual case will be Kollar-Kotelly's next ruling

  By Staff Writer

  WASHINGTON - With the first anniversary of the American Bankers Association's (ABA) challenge to sections of the NCUA's new Chartering Manual (IRPS 99-1) passing on January 8, parties and prospective parties in the matter are eagerly awaiting a sign that the case will be next on U.S. District Court Judge...

• NCUA says ETA recipients must be within a credit union's FOM

  By Staff Writer

  ALEXANDRIA, Va. - There's one tenet of NCUA's just-released regulatory alert on the Treasury Department's Electronic Transfer Accounts that may spur a two-fold debate: field-of-membership and serving the underserved. The ETAs were created under the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 in recognition that not all recipients of federal payments...

• CUNA & Affiliates recognizes 9 top winners with Bridge Awards

  By Staff Writer

  MADISON, Wis.-CUNA & Affiliates has named nine top Bridge Award winners in its annual excellence in member communications contest, including Weyerhaeuser Employees Credit Union in Longview, Wash., which won first place for its newsletter "The Shareholder."

• Greater Texas FCU's `Aggieland CU' helps provide versatile student card

  By Staff Writer

  COLLEGE STATION, Texas-Consider a student ID card that doubles also as a MasterCard, automated teller machine card, and even as an "electronic purse" that allows holders to purchase Cokes from Coke machines or use it as payment for meals in college dining halls.

• Dateline Washington

  By Staff Writer

  *

• New organization performance test uncovers some surprising relational behavior

  By Staff Writer

  FAIRFAX, Va. - What comes to mind when you design a five or 10-year plan and try to forecast your future success? Knowing who your competition is, assessing your portfolio, evaluating your product offering and membership? While these are all valid factors that can affect a credit union's future, The...

• Wisconsin Bankers Association appeals CU Board's decision in favor of Business Lending Group

  By Staff Writer

  MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Bankers Association January 5 filed an appeal in Dane County Circuit Court over a decision by the state Credit Union Review Board to accept a recommendation rendered by an administrative judge that denied the bankers standing in their assertion that The Business Lending Group-a small...

• NCUA using banking agencies' privacy policy draft as starting point for its own

  By Staff Writer

  ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The General Counsel's Office of the National Credit Union Administration is presently working on the draft of what will become the privacy disclosure requirements for credit unions, said an agency source.

• L.A. Firemen's CU brochure takes members down Memory Lane for dividends

  By Staff Writer

  LOS ANGELES-Using old photos in a brochure that harkens back to the early days of both movies and the credit union's beginnings, staff members at L.A. Firemen's Credit Union have notified members of an extraordinary dividend bonus and interest refund totaling $1.3 million for the last year of the century.

• Credit card info theft/extortion attempt draws renewed attention to online security

  By Staff Writer

  PALO ALTO, Calif.-A very tech-savvy computer hacker that tried to extort $100,000 from an Internet music retailer- who refused to pay- then posted stolen credit card numbers on the Internet seems to have eluded all attempts, so far, of being traced.

Briefs

• Christmas bonuses a growing rarity

  By Staff Writer

  PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla.- The time-old tradition of employers giving employees Christmas bonuses is a fast disappearing practice, according to two new studies.

• ASTD to hold HR conference in Dallas

  By Staff Writer

  DALLAS - The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) plans to hold its International Conference and Exposition- "ASTD2000"-May 21-25 at the Dallas Convention Center.

• Fewer employees hanging `out to lunch' sign

  By Staff Writer

  MENLO PARK, Calif. - If alternating between answering phone calls and taking bites of a sandwich describes your lunch hour, you're not alone, says OfficeTeam, a staffing service specializing in administrative professionals. In a new nationwide consumer survey, 19% of respondents said they work through lunch everyday, while 43% do...

• Social Security wage base rises to $76,200 in 2000

  By Staff Writer

  WASHINGTON - The Social Security Administration has announced that the 2000 Social Security wage base is $76,200, an increase of $3,600 from the 1999 wage base of $72,600.

Letters to the editor

• Dollar a visionary leader

  By Staff Writer

  I read Mike Welch's column in the Dec. 1, 1999 issue, "Where have all the (credit union) leaders gone?" lamenting the lack of credit union leaders with a great deal of surprise. Why surprise? Because I believe that there are several examples of true leadership in the credit union movement,...

• (Correct) Perceptions count

  By Staff Writer

  Thank you Mike for your insightful column in the Nov. 23 issue of Credit Union Times, "Credit unions may be sending wrong signals."

Opinion

• Employers need to get their privacy houses in order

  By Staff Writer

  "Privacy will be to the information economy of the next century what consumer protection and environmental concerns have been to the industrial society of the 20th century." Now that we are in that "next century," we can look back to 1996, when Marc Rotenberg, Director of the Electronic Privacy Information...

Publisher's Column

• Credit unions need to adopt privacy policies

  Privacy is one of this nation's new consumer buzz words and with good reason. Who knows what about whom, and what they do or don't do with the exploding amount of incredibly detailed information, much of it highly personal, confidential, and sensitive, is increasingly making headlines. One of the more...

Staking Out the Stats

• Total Bankruptcies Per Thousand Loans Outstanding

  By Staff Writer

  Rising tide of bankruptcy

People

• MIDWEST

  By Staff Writer

  Community First CU, Appleton, Wis., has made the following appointments: Patricia Hemmy, mortgage originator for the Waupaca Branch; Charles Fischer, purchasing manager; Roree Van Duyne, assistant vice president of commercial lending. University of Wisconsin CU, Madison, Wis., has named Gerard Brillowski director of marketing.

• VENDORS

  By Staff Writer

  Eldredge Corp., Westfield, Ind., a provider of insurance, lending and marketing products to CUs for more than 20 years, has named Bill Sarsfield, CLU, senior vice president of sales and marketing. HBE Corporation, St. Louis, a leading design-build firm in the U.S., has named Chip Fiedler electrical group leader. NAFCU...

• SOUTH

  By Staff Writer

  AGE FCU, Albany, Ga., has named Pam Martin senior vice president. Alabama CU League, Birmingham, has made the following appointments: Deeya Gray, art director; Lisa Corvo, senior consultant; John Durkin, director of communication and public affairs. GTE FCU, Tampa, Fla., has named Jeffrey Gow director of credit services, and Bryon...

• SOUTHWEST

  By Staff Writer

  Fort Bliss FCU, El Paso, Texas, has named Kerry Stacy vice president of the newly created e-branch. Texas Dow Employees CU, Lake Jackson, Texas, has named Lance Wortham vice president of branch operations.