Credit Union Times Magazine July-25, 2007
In Other News
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In Other News
For the second consecutive year, the Utah League of Credit Unions recognized Goldenwest Credit Union, Ogden, Utah, with high honors for its charitable contributions to the community. Goldenwest received the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award in the $200-$500 million in assets category for its annual holiday-giving campaign for families-in-need throughout...
News
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New York League Wins Marketing Awards
The New York Credit Union League has won three awards for its communication efforts.
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Discover Card Survey Finds Consumer Pessimism Persists
Discover Card's brand new Spending Confidence Monitor has found falling consumer confidence and an unwillingness among cardholders to spend, the brand reported.
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Arizona State CU Links Up with Health Care Provider to Offer Payday Alternative Loans to Employees
Adopting a novel approach to payday lending, the $1.1 billion Arizona State Credit Union is partnering with a Tucson health care employer to help its workers "break the debt cycle" to payday shops.
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Women More Concerned About Nation's Economy
When it comes to who has the most concerns about the nation's current economic condition, women are more pessimistic than men.
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Credit Unions Still Need to Step Up HSA Efforts
According to data collected by Callahan and Associates during the first quarter of 2007, the majority of credit unions still aren't offering Health Savings Accounts.
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Navy Federal Part of Historic School Makeover
Navy Federal Credit Union has teamed up with local ABC 7 and other area businesses in giving the Naval Academy Primary School a much-needed makeover.
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D. Hilton Associates Takes Home Trailblazer Award
D. Hilton Associates' Marketing and Advertising group has recently taken first place at the Trailblazer Awards for Best Youth Marketing for Market USA Federal Credit Union.
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CPA Firm Receives Workplace Excellence Honors from North Island
JGD & Associates was recently presented with the "Excellence in the Workplace" award by North Island Credit Union at the 2007 San Diego Small Business Awards luncheon.
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Bankers Comment on Broker Exemption Proposal
More feedback has come from banking groups on a Securities and Exchange Commission proposed regulation that would exempt banks from having to register with the agency for certain brokerage activities.
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Ent Launches Insuring Your Health Week
Ent is helping area residents become more savvy about their health insurance options.
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Colorado State Employees CU, Automotive Avenues Partner
Colorado State Employees Credit Union has partnered with Automotive Avenues, a division of Aimbridge Lending Solutions, an auto buying and lending service provider.
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Almost 200 Students Receive Financial Aid From Polish and Slavic FCU
Almost 200 student members of the $1.1 billion Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union will receive, together, almost $300,000 in financial aid from the CU's "best and brightest" financial aid awards program.
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Dayton Firefighters FCU Talks Up Financial Literacy
The Dayton Firefighters Federal Credit Union is giving a leg up to at-risk teens.
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Kids Desire Financial Education But Don't Get It, Survey Finds
More teenagers want financial education than are able to get it, according to a recent survey.
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Most FCUs Promote Staff Volunteerism in the Community, NAFCU Finds
NAFCU's July Flash Report survey found that credit unions are practicing community involvement even though they are not subject to Community Reinvestment Act requirements.
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Corporate One Enters Enterprise Wide Risk Management Realm; Aims to Help Credit Unions Change the Way They Think About Risk
When it comes to building a successful business Corporate One has done it over and over again.
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Issue Heating Up After Long Hiatus, Interchange Issue Is Back; Retail Coalition Mounting D.C. Area Ad Campaign
Don't look now, but it appears the issue of credit card interchange may be reappearing on the national agenda.
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Issue Being Fought Out At State Level Too
Interchange is not only starting to generate heat at the federal level. Sub-issues around the topic have been bubbling up at the state level as well.
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Desert Schools Calls Community Meeting on ARMs
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union is helping local neighbors avoid the pitfalls of Adjustable Rate Mortgages by hosting a community meeting.
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New Bill Would Regulate Use of Overdraft Protection Programs
A new bill before the House of Representatives would significantly regulate and limit the way credit unions and other financial institutions offer the depositors overdraft protection programs.
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Cha-Ching! Credit Unions to Get Better Play at '07 Realtors Convention
Last year's American Credit Union Mortgage Association credit union booth at the National Association of Realtors convention will be jazzed up for the 2007 convention with the Cha-Ching! sound of free slot machines that won't pay in coins but in electronics and other prizes for real estate agents learning about...
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Cunningham Testifies on Behalf of CUNA on Overdraft Protection; Says Credit Unions Do it Better than Banks
USA Federal Credit Union President/CEO Mary Cunningham testified July 11 before the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on credit unions' legitimate offerings of overdraft protection programs.
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CUNA Gets 'Straight to The Point' on Bank Greed
CUNA's latest Straight to the Point brochure that gets distributed on Capitol Hill and elsewhere drives at the heart of what CUNA says is the motivator behind bankers' arguments against credit unions: greed.
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Elevations Wins Long-Sought State OK On FOM Expansion
The $720 million Elevations Credit Union has cleared a huge regulatory and field of membership hurdle in expanding into two Colorado counties.
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Missouri Governor Signs FOM Law
Governor Matt Blunt has signed into law the much-fought Field of Membership bill climaxing years of bank/credit union clashing.
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Name Change Attempt Cost $100,000
Though the $575 million University of Iowa Community Credit Union will know better next time how to conduct a name change, management can only look back now on "Optiva" as a $100,000 gaffe.
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SSFCU Lends Helping Hand to USO
The Security Service Federal Credit Union Volunteer Corps is doing its part to support troops overseas.
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New State CU in New Jersey Under Discussion
Executives with the New Jersey Credit Union League, the state banking department and a local community action partnership have been meeting to discuss the founding of the first state chartered credit union in the state in the last 10 years.
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Indiana CU Expands Community Charter
The $53 million Kemba Credit Union has been granted an expansion of their community charter by the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions.
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$5.2 Million Check Handed Over for JA's Biz Kid$
The "JA's BizKid$" show airing on PBS stations this fall was the object of hoopla here and a special $5.2 million check presentation ceremony witnessed by 600 field leaders from Junior Achievement Worldwide to mark CU funding for the financial education show.
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New York CUs Make Inroads with New Assembly Members
Newly-elected assembly members Ellen Jaffee (D-Rockland) and Kenneth Zebrowski Jr. (D-Rockland) joined representatives from the Westchester-Rockland chapter of the New York State Credit Union League for an informal lunch at Palisades Federal Credit Union to discuss issues impacting today's credit unions.
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NCUA Hosts Fourth MSAP Outreach Task Force Meeting
The NCUA hosted just over 100 executives from credit unions, credit union leagues and other organizations at the fourth Outreach Task Force Meeting.
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NCUA Approves 3 TIP Charters So Far This Year
NCUA has approved three applications from credit unions to convert to trade, industry or profession charters, all of them in June.
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Are You One of Four Top CU Leaders?
With credit unions staring down many challenges, there's no question that leadership can make or break a credit union.
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Southwest Gets 'Special' For CU Dollars
The $13 billion Southwest Corporate is seeing credit unions put their excess deposits to work in the corporate's specially-structured share certificates.
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New Board Members Elected at CU 24
Credit Union 24 shareholders have elected a new officer to the organization's board to fill one being vacated by one of the network's founding members, the ATM and EFT network has announced.
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CUs Continuing to Add Underserved Areas at a Slow Rate
Federal credit unions continue to add underserved areas at an anemic rate in the second quarter. So far this year, according to the NCUA, 36 credit unions have added 45 underserved areas, representing a potential 5.8 million additional possible members.
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NAFCU's Boyle Says His Second Retirement Will Be Just That
While NAFCU Director of Planning, Programming, and Special Projects Joe Boyle has many things he is looking forward to enjoying in retirement after 17-plus years with the organization, he said that he will also miss a lot, particularly some of the relationships he has built in the credit union community.
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Democratic Congress Comes Across with More Money for CDFI's
With the Senate Appropriations Committee wrapping up its budget recommendations, the budget committees of both chambers of Congress have suggested significantly more money for the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions fund.
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PAYjr Rolls Out Prepaid Visa Aimed at Teens
PAYjr, a financial education firm and online service that specializes in helping parents teach children about money management and budgeting, has rolled out a prepaid Visa card aimed at teenagers.
Front Page News
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Optiva Name Change Flap Hasn't Hurt Membership Says CU
How much did members really care about the "Optiva" name change flap at the $575 million University of Iowa Community Credit Union last February.
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Corporates of All Sizes Say Small Credit Unions Can Survive If they Find Their Niche, Leverage Industry Players
As of April 30, the NCUA had approved 92 new mergers this year for a total of $850,795,431 in merged assets. That's more than one each business day, with the average merged credit union having only $9.2 million in assets.
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Leagues Battle Attrition, Say Unity Needed Now More Than Ever
Taking a cue from CUNA on the need for industry unity, state leagues are revving up member retention programs this summer and launching new campaigns to win back CUs which have dropped their memberships.
News Briefs
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Republicans Introduce Subprime Legislation
House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and other leading Republicans on the committee introduced a bill aimed to curb unscrupulous lending practices.
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Four More Lawmakers Support CURIA
Three Republicans and one Democrat have signed on to show their support for the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (H.R. 1537).
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NY CUs Offer Input at Subprime Hearing
Melrose Credit Union Director of Marketing Robert Nemeroff testified on behalf of the state league before the state Senate Democratic Conference hearing on subprime lending practices in New York.
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NAFCU Encourages Congress to Grant CDRLF $1M, CLF $1.5B
As the two items of NCUA's budget that receive congressional appropriations take their legislative course, NAFCU encouraged lawmakers to apply historical levels for both the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund and the Central Liquidity Facility.
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Vantage, Community Educational to Merge
The board of directors of Community Educational Federal Credit Union recently approved a merger with Vantage Credit Union.
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Fox to Retire from Mid-Atlantic Corporate in 2008
More and more credit union executives are giving plenty of notice with their retirement plans. The latest is Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU CEO Ed Fox, who will retire on July of 2008, coinciding with his 65th birthday and 19 years of service to the corporate.
Facilities
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NuUnion Hosts Hastings Ribbon Cutting
NuUnion Credit Union has recently celebrated the grand opening of its new location in Hastings, Michigan.
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Scott CU Goes Mobile
Scott Credit Union is hitting the road with the new Money Zone ATM trailer.
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Michigan First CU Celebrates Student Branches
Michigan First Credit Union recently treated its student branch "staffers" to a pancake breakfast and award ceremony.
Lending
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ACUMA to Present Credit Union Option at National Association of Realtors Annual Convention
The American Credit Union Mortgage Association will be presenting a credit union-related breakout session to some 30,000-expected attendees to the Annual Convention of the National Association of Realtors taking place here Nov. 13-16.
Marketing
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Vantage CU PR Specialist Makes Final 10 for People Makeover
Credit unions get ready to support one of your own in transforming from drab to "fab."
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Carolina Postal CU Gives USPS Members 'Priority PayDay'
Payday now comes early for Carolina Postal Credit Union's United States Postal Service members.
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Freedom FCU Supports Patriot Programs
Students at Prospect Mill Elementary and William S. James Elementary Schools are getting a lesson in patriotism thanks in part to Freedom Federal Credit Union.
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Travis Credit Union Supports Celebrate Davis
VACAVILLE, Calif. -- Travis Credit Union recently helped make the 90th anniversary of the city of Davis a memorable one. Over 8,000 people browsed more than 135 booths showcasing retailers, service providers and nonprofit organizations including Travis CU during Celebrate Davis! The event included live music, tasty food, cold beverages,...
Regulatory/Compliance
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Special Feature: Credit Union Leaders Speak Out on Regulatory Relief
To protect credit union investment programs from the "whimsical interpretation by the various state securities regulators," a regulation is sorely needed that would put them on par with banks.
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Regulatory Wish List: Credit Union Leaders Speak Out on Regulatory Changes That Would Positively Impact Industry
The Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act is wending its way through Congress. Whether or not it becomes law is still to be determined.
Tech Bytes
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MShift Updates Mobile Banking Platform to Handle iPhone
MShift Inc. can now do iPhone.
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WRG Online Products Renamed 'MemberEdge'
Wescom Resources Group has unified its array of online banking solutions under the MemberEdge name.
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Power Financial CU Launches Honor Deposit Service
Power Financial Credit Union says it has launched an online deposit system to counter what its CEO calls "one of the largest stumbling blocks of online banking."
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Fuze Digital Solutions Enables Mobile Use of Knowledge Tools
Fuze Digital Solutions says it has now optimized its knowledge-management solutions for mobile access.
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BECU Launches New HR Software Platform
BECU will save more than $250,000 in the next three years with a new human resources software system, according to the vendor who supplied the tools.
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California CU Extends E-Mortgage from App Through Sale to Fannie Mae
American First Credit Union says it's now the first credit union in California that can take a mortgage from application through sale to Fannie Mae completely electronically.
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TraceSecurity Release Upgrade of Automated Compliance Software
TraceSecurity Inc. has released a new version of its automated security compliance solution.
Special Report
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New Trojans Seen Harvesting Account, Social Security Numbers--Even Mother's Maiden Name
Sitting on computers in China and the United States are the fruits of the labors of fraudsters using particularly insidious new Trojans to swipe data that include account and Social Security numbers, user names and passwords and even the answers to challenge questions such as mothers' maiden names.
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Forrester Finds: Operating System Security Policy Happens in Patchwork
Hard-pressed IT security managers who find they can't keep up with the stream of patches required to harden their credit union's server operating systems are hardly alone, according to a leading think firm.
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Wolters Kluwer Debuts ComplianceOne for CUs
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is introducing its ComplianceOne solution to the credit union marketplace.
Briefs
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Occupational Fraud Abuse Represents Some $652 Billion in Losses
Despite stepping up anti-fraud control efforts, many businesses are still victims of fraud abuse.
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Suncoast Schools Clearing New Accounts, Deposits Through NFIS Tools
Florida's largest credit union says it's generating more checking account business through its new fraud-prevention solution.
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Digital Defense Founder Joins TraceSecurity
inancial services IT security veteran Joseph Cooper has joined TraceSecurity Inc., a provider of security compliance and risk management solutions.
Opinions
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Confronting The Identity Fraud Crisis in Credit Unions
"But he that filches from me my good name/Robs me of that which not enriches him/And makes me poor indeed." --Shakespeare, Othello, act iii, Scene 3
Statistics
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IT Security Certifications Seen Rising in Demand
Demands for IT security professionals are approaching levels not seen since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, according to Foote Partners, an IT workforce research firm and consultancy that tracks certification and compensation data from nearly 1,900 employers and 33,800 employees across the United States and Canada. Key measures such as...
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Credit Unions Lead Cyveillance List of Targeted Phishing Brands
The number of credit unions targeted by phishing fraudsters increased by nearly 600% in a single year, according to Internet monitoring specialists at Cyveillance. The company says virtually every large financial institution in the country was targeted at one time or another and that smaller organizations, such as credit unions,...
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SecureWorks Find Hack Attacks Continue on CUs
Hackers continue to probe the defenses of credit unions, according to SecureWorks. The Atlanta-based provider of online security services recorded peaks of 9,000 attacks per day and about 135 different attackers per day at various times in April and May on the approximately 470 credit unions in its client base.
Letters to the editor
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Credit Unions Have to Support Industry Players
It was refreshing to read Paul Gentile's comments in his July 4 column regarding the importance of credit unions supporting credit union organizations. In today's competitive environment, we sometimes overlook the value of "keeping it in the industry." Both as a corporate credit union CEO and in my role as...
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Have Credit Unions Forgotten Their Roots? Forgotten What Makes CUs Different?
I relocated to Southern California a little more than 10 years ago, saying so-long to the snow and frosty cold of the Northeast. Now, I make my home in what I consider one of the best regions to live in the country. Yet, despite my love affair for all that...
Opinion
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Proposed Reg Z Changes Will Hurt CUs' Service, Competitiveness
For more than 25 years, credit unions have used multi-featured, open-end lending as their preferred method to make non-real estate, secured consumer loans. Approximately half of all credit unions use this lending approach, and about 60% of credit unions with assets of more than $100 million use multi-featured, open-end lending...
Publisher's Column
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Congress Wakes Up--Better Late Than Never
I think back to the days of bankruptcy reform and to me the issue seemed like such a no-brainer. It was the duty of Congress to close the very obvious bankruptcy loopholes and make those who could afford to pay back their debt do so. But of course we all...
Staking Out the Stats
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ID Theft, Fraud Top Consumer Concerns
The impact that fraud and identity theft have had on the public's concern about personal financial matters should remain a top consideration for financial institutions, findings from Opinion Research Corporation's monthly "Ouch Point" Series suggest.
People
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People
Fred F. Brott, a member of the board at CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union in Alexandria, Va., recently passed away. Brott was a CommonWealth One member and volunteer for over 30 years. He held the positions of treasurer and vice chairman, and served on the Field of Membership, Asset Liability...
Clarifications/Corrections
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Correction
In the article "Wal-Mart Prompts New Credit Union 'Unbanked' Moves" in the July 18, 2007 issue of Credit Union Times, that article incorrectly stated that the REAL Solutions sessions in Albany were put together by the New York State Bankers Association; in fact they were put together by the New...
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