Credit Union Times Magazine February-27, 2008
In Other News
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Branching Out
Branching Out
News
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Envision CU Cites Success with BI Solution
Envision Credit Union said it has reduced monthly teller activity reporting from 20-plus manual labor hours to less than 10 minutes in the year because of business intelligence software from Cognos Inc.
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Digital Defense Picked By NAFCU Services Corp.
NAFCU Services Corp. said it has added Digital Defense Inc. to its Preferred Partner program.
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NCR Picks Two uMonitor Applications
NCR Corp. said it will begin offering two of uMonitor's online applications as part of the corporation's online banking solution.
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OMNI Community CU Offers Auto Loans To Those in Need
OMNI Community Credit Union has become part of "Wheels to Work" by offering auto loans to qualified individuals in the program.
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CU Exec Takes Home National Recipe $25,000 Grand Prize
Basking in the glow of savory success, Dawn White's "shrimp salad delight" was recently named the 2007 Lawry's Tasty Traditions 'Reel Creative Meals' winner.
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NCUA Focuses on CU Work Helping African-Americans in February
As part of the Bush Administration's designation of February as National Black History Month, NCUA has focused on its role in helping credit unions serving predominantly African-American communities.
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WOCCU's New Model Regulations Promote Consistent Worldwide Standards
World Council of Credit Unions has produced a new Model Regulations for Credit Unions, a companion piece to WOCCU's 2005 Model Law for Credit Unions.
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NewGround Names New CEO
Design and building firm NewGround has promoted President/Chief Operating Officer Kevin Blair to CEO.
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NACUSO Sets Annual Conference Speaker, Agenda Lineup
The agenda and lineup of keynote speakers has been set for NACUSO's 2008 annual conference in Las Vegas April 27-30.
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CUNA Unveils New Lobby Brochures
CUNA has recently launched a new line of "quick read" lobby brochures to complement its statement stuffer line.
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Online Resources Names New Payments Chief
Sheila Narayan, a veteran payments consultant, has joined Online Resources Corp. as executive vice president/general manager of its payments division.
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Nine-Year-Old of North Carolina CFO Garners Top Prizes for CU Work
Brian Harron, chief financial officer of the $46 million Carolina Mountains Credit Union, knows he has two bright, young daughters but he did not expect his fourth-grader would start doing spreadsheet analyses of the CU's branch operation.
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A+Federal Credit Union Selects Savings Challenge Finalists
A+ Federal Credit Union and the local Austin Fox 7 station have recently announced the three families chosen as finalists for the Savings Challenge '08.
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Mid-Atlantic FCU Revamped Web Site Becomes Educational Resource
There's a new look and feel on Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union's Web site (www.mafcu.org).
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CSDCU, TruHome Solutions CUSO Form Alliance
TruHome Solutions, a credit union-owned mortgage solutions CUSO, and CSDCU, have finalized a new mortgage partnership agreement.
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Town Hall Meeting With U.S. Rep. Baca Will Air Complaints Against Bank of America
The Service Employees International Union planned a Town Hall-style meeting at press time featuring Representative Joe Baca (D-Calif.), local community leaders, and consumers who feel lending and fee policies of Bank of America and other big banks are deceitful and damaging to the U.S. economy.
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Aranjo Grand Jury Hears of Missing Loan Documents
The federal grand jury trial of former D. Edward Wells president/CEO Carol Aranjo and her husband, Alphonso Smith for conspiracy, tax evasion and embezzlement that led to the liquidation of the CU continued here last week.
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CU*Answers 'It's Me 247' Gets Personal
CU*Answers, the credit union-owned data processor and online banking provider, announced the release of new built-in personalization features to its online banking system, known as It's Me 247.
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Jim McPheters Bids Farewell To California Coast CU
California Coast Credit Union Pres-ident/CEO Jim McPheters is retiring effective April 1, 2008.
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Liquidity Surplus Pushes Trust for Credit Unions Above $1 Billion
A surplus of liquidity in the credit union industry has helped to raise investments in the Trust for Credit Unions money market portfolio to $1.047 billion as of Feb. 15, 2008, up $687 million from the previous year, according to Callahan Financial Services, a subsidiary of Callahan & Associates.
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Police Officers CU Conference Committee Helps Form New York Police CU
A brand new police credit union--The Finest Federal Credit Union--is in the process of being created with the help of Chicago Patrolmen's Federal Credit Union, Delaware State Police Federal Credit Union, and Police Federal Credit Union.
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CURIA Continues to Gain Momentum
The Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (H.R. 1537) is not just on the mind of a few assorted members of Congress.
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Government Is at the Forefront of CUNA's 2008 Governmental Affairs Conference
With a powerful roster of speakers headlining CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference this year, a new location, and the backdrop of a Presidential campaign, participants can expect a truly educational event.
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NAFCU Flash Outlines Economic Predictions and Discusses NCUA Data Collection
NAFCU's most recent Flash Report survey confirmed that 74% of credit union respondents felt the recent data collection effort by the NCUA, known as the Member Service Assesment Pilot Program, was an inappropriate expense and should not be expanded as currently structured.
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No NCUSIF Rebate for 2007
The NCUA Board received the quarterly insurance fund report today from the new Chief Financial Officer Mary Ann Woodson, who revealed that the NCUSIF will not be refunding any funds to federally insured credit unions for 2007.
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Lack of Liquidity Threatens Student Loan Availability, Says Kanjorski
Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) and 20 other Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to take action to ensure that students can afford higher education.
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Altura CU's Auto-Buying CUSO Wins Governor's, Excellence Awards
Auto Expert was recently recognized for its service record with the California Governor's Award for Excellence and the Gold Level California Award for Performance Excellence.
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'Happy Un-Banking' Message Earns Accolades For People's Trust FCU
People's Trust Federal Credit Union's quirky "Happy Un-Banking" awareness campaign has been recognized at the 46th Annual Houston Advertising Federation ADDY Awards.
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SECU, LGFCU Offer Branches as VITA Sites
North Carolina taxpayers are turning to State Employees Credit Union and Local Government Federal Credit Union branches for help.
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Xerox FCU Plans to 'Xceed' Expectations with New Name, Brand Overhaul
The $770 million Xerox Federal Credit Union will launch a new name and brand, transitioning to Xceed Financial Credit Union on March 31.
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Gift Card Sales Strong For ATIRA in 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Members Group, a leading CUSO in the CU card arena, has reported very strong performance for its ATIRA gift card program in 2007.
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Year-End Membership Surge Thwarts Three-Year Trend
The industry saw an unusual, late-year surge of 367,000 members in the fourth quarter last year, allowing credit unions to cap off 2007 with a total of 89.7 million members, according to the latest Credit Union Trends Report from CUNA Mutual Group.
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Bucking Trend, Mortgagebot Posts Record Sales, Usage
Mortgagebot, a provider of online mortgage-origination solutions to credit unions and banks here, finished 2007 with record number of clients, market penetration and volume on its Mortgagebot PowerSite solution.
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Treasury Department FCU is First to Sponsor Operation HOPE Within Facilities
WASHINGTON -- Treasury Department Federal Credit Union has officially signed on to Operation HOPE's financial literacy movement and will begin providing space and support for a "HOPE Inside" partnership.
Front Page News
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SECU Foundation Seeks Biggest Bang For Each Donated Dollar
For the State Employees' Credit Union Foundation, the question was never whether to channel money back into the communities the CU served.
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New Entry in CU Loan-Origination Space Seeing Green
A new entry into the credit union loan-origination system space plans to make its mark with a message of going green and getting social.
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CUs' Role in Mortgage Lending Gets Good PR as Industry Steps Up
Credit unions are getting good publicity for what they didn't do--that is make predatory mortgage loans and contribute to the subprime debacle--and for what they ought to be doing to help Americans through what seems to be a growing economic crisis.
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First Basin Suspends Conversion Balloting But May Try Again
The $113.6 million First Basin Credit Union is going to remain a credit union, at least for now. The credit union has announced to its members that it has decided to "suspend" the application to convert to a bank charter.
News Briefs
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Hide Financial Statements at the Voting Booth
It's hard to believe, the Wisconsin Credit Union League warned, but identity theft can occur at the voting booth.
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Tempe Schools CU Earns National Nod for VITA Program
Tempe Schools Credit Union has received an honorable mention from the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Recognition Program for its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
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NFCC Launches 2008 National Financial Literacy Poster Contest
The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is once again sponsoring the BE MONEY WI$E National Poster Contest.
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SECU ATMs Now Talk
The $15 billion State Employees Credit Union has reported that it has converted all of its almost 1,000 ATMs across the state to talking ATMs.
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Pacific Community CU Joins Member Business Services
Count Pacific Community Credit Union is among the latest to partner with Member Business Services.
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NAFCU Cornerstone Award Recipients Chosen
NAFCU has selected the recipients of its 2008 Cornerstone Awards. Stacey Walker, a director at XCEL Federal Credit Union, and Noma Carter, a director at Securityplus Federal Credit Union, have been named the recipients of NAFCU's 2008 Cornerstone Award.
Regulatory/Compliance
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NCUA Issues Additional Guidance on E-Sign Act
Recently, the general counsel's office at NCUA issued additional guidance on the E-Sign Act.
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NCUA Clarifies MBL Two-Year Expertise Requirement
On Feb. 8, NCUA clarified the member business loan two-year rule in a recent legal opinion letter (08-0128).
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Real Estate Appraisal Document Guidance Issued by NCUA General Counsel
A recent question about documentation in a real estate transaction prompted the NCUA to issue additional guidance on real estate. According to NCUA Legal Opinion Letter 08-0129, no written narrative needs to be present in an appraisal for a real-estate transaction. NCUA's appraisal regulation, discusses real estate transactions requiring appraisals...
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Chairman JoAnn Johnson Represents NCUA at President's Inaugural Council
NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson represented the agency at the Department of the Treasury for the first meeting of the Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. She was accompanied by Cutler Dawson President/CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union, who is a member of the Council.
Special Report
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Cyber Crooks Increase Attacks on Healthcare Systems
Credit unions and other financial institutions are hardly alone in the eyes of cyber crooks.
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Credit Unions Move Ahead with Technology on the 'Fringe'
While the term "fringe technology" might seem more fitting for science fiction than credit unions, the match is not all that far-fetched.
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Cyveillance Report Finds Banks, CUs Still Focus of Fraudsters
Credit unions and banks continue to be targets of phishing and malware attacks in cyberspace.
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Survey Finds Tech Focus a Key to Survive, Thrive
What to spend and where to spend it.
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Meriwest Launches New Online Account, Funding Tools
Meriwest Credit Union has introduced a new online member acquisition and funding program.
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Gulf Coast To Switch to Open Solutions
Gulf Coast Community CU will switch to The Complete Credit Union Solution from Open Solutions Inc. in June.
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Survey Finds Slow Vista Uptake
Hesitant to make the leap to Vista? You're not alone, according to new research from Forrester Research. A survey of 2,104 hardware decision-makers at North American and European large, small and medium businesses found that Windows XP continues to dominate the PC operating system landscape and that fully 45% of...
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Online Bill Pay Holdouts Large in Number, But Some Could Switch
Credit unions and banks can still find some growth in the online bill pay channel. According to Forrester Research's North American Technographics Financial Services Online Survey of 4,197 consumers--conducted in the third quarter of 2007--only 35% of online consumers pay bills at their bank or credit union's Web site.
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ACI Worldwide to Offer mFoundry Mobile Tools
ACI Worldwide will be offering its business and consumer online banking clients the services of California-based mFoundry for mobile banking.
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2007 Strong Year for Wescom Resources Group
More clients, an acquisition and increased bill payment services were some of the factors that led to a 26% increase in revenue in 2007 for Wescom Resources Group, a CUSO of $3.7 billion Wescom Credit Union. WRG provides technology solutions to more than 215 credit unions.
Letters to the editor
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Appeal to ASI FCU: Don't "Enable" Illegal Aliens
It's admirable that the ASI Federal Credit Union in Harahan, La. is moving to open a Latino branch office to serve its Spanish-speaking members. Every employee will speak both Spanish and English, and all documents will be printed in both languages. A good move.
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Congrats, But Cooke's Wrong on 'Bank Wins' With Conversions
Congratulations on your new role at CU Times, my favorite CU publication. In my opinion though, your Jan. 30 editorial is off target (Bankers Win if One-Third of Largest CUs Plan Conversions).
Publisher's Column
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An Ode to CUs That Cultivate the Work-Life Balance
As I have been adjusting to my new role over the last few months on the professional side, it has also taken some adjustments on the personal side as well. Credit Union Times runs with a lean and mean staff dedicated to getting all the news out quickly and accurately,...
Staking Out the Stats
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Staking Out the Stats
Banks are facing some of the same challenges that credit unions do when it comes to IT.
People
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People
East, South, Midwest, West
Voting Poll
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Are You Prepared When Disaster Strikes?
In our new poll, Credit Union Times is asking readers, "How often does your CU reassess its disaster preparedness plan?"
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CU Times Poll Shows Higher Card Portfolio Sales Than Industry Average
The Credit Union Times recent poll on credit unions' intent to sell or keep their card portfolios has closed.
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