Credit Union Times Magazine October-08, 2008
News
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FHA Warns Lenders Against the Growing Threat of 'Buy and Bail' Borrower Schemes
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Housing Administration is warning its lenders to be on the lookout against borrowers who "buy and bail." It's a practice by some borrowers that seems to have its roots in the high price of gasoline.
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Two CUSOs Will Merge
HELENA, Mont. -- Two draft processing CUSOs, UniPro Systems Ltd. and CUsource LLC, will merge effective Oct. 15.
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Treasury Department Creates Credit PSAs and Video Game
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Treasury Department has unveiled a new multimedia campaign designed to help young adults get a better grip on their credit.
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Curtin Is One 40 Under 40
FITCHBURG, Mass. -- Workers' Credit Union Assistant Vice President/Marketing and Communications Manager Nicole Glinski Curtin has been named as one of the 40 under Forty by The Worcester Business Journal.
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Patrick McGrath Is New CEO at Greater Alliance FCU
PARAMUS, N.J. -- There's a new president/CEO at Greater Alliance Federal Credit Union.
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Sales Execs Named at VSoft
ATLANTA -- VSoft Corp., a provider of imaging and other process improvement solutions, has added four financial industry technology veterans, including some familiar names in credit union land, to its North American sales team.
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Payday Program Wins Carolina Postal VP CUES Future Leader Award
MADISON, Wis. -- The Credit Union Executives Society has recently named Carolina Postal Credit Union Vice President Marketing/Business Development Deb McLean as a 2008 CUES future leader.
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GECU's Savings Challenge: College Edition
EL PASO, Texas -- Greater El Paso Credit Union has discovered the secret to reaching Generation Y: give them $10,000.
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Ike-Battered Texas Credit Unions Trudge On Through Cleanup
BEAUMONT, Texas -- The massive cleanup process began in earnest last week for those Ike-battered Texas credit unions now shifting their attention to aiding stricken employees and members while restoring normal operations.
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Neches FCU Uses Rita Disaster Plan to Weather Ike's Destruction
PORT NECHES, Texas -- It has been three years since Hurricane Rita, considered to be one of the worst storms ever on record, demolished the Gulf Coast.
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Liquidity Fund for CUs Increases
WASHINGTON -- Credit unions will have more funds available to shore up any liquidity shortfall as a result of Congress' decision to increase the cap on the on the central liquidity facility.
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Belco Community CU Members File Retirement Fund Loss Lawsuit
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Five members filed a lawsuit against Belco Community Credit Union on Sept. 18 claiming the financial institution failed to disclose the commissions it earned through it's partnership with CUNA Brokerage Services Inc., which they say resulted in losses to their retirement savings.
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Verbatim
Below are excerpts from a letter dated Sept. 30 written by Edward Yingling, president/CEO of the American Bankers Association, to NCUA Chairman Michael Fryzel.
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Federal and State Officials Order Resource One CU to Halt Safety Ads
WASHINGTON -- For the second time in less than a month, federal and state authorities have coordinated efforts to force a Texas credit union to stop running advertisements that the agencies say question the safety of deposits at banks.
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Without a Merger, Peak5, a Vestige of the Failed Centrix, May Close
CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- Peak5, which rose from the ashes of failed Centrix earlier this year, is looking for a buyer.
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Discover Poised for Potentially Large Payment From Visa, MasterCard
RIVERWOODS, Ill. -- Discover Financial Services stands to receive a significant payout from the resolution of some long-standing litigation with Visa and MasterCard.
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70-Year-Old Orange Co. CU Spry Enough to Protect Endangered Species
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- What better way to celebrate Orange County's Credit Union's 70th anniversary than by helping to bring a dream to life.
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Bringing Homes for Our Troops to Mo.
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- In a follow up to CUNA's Homes for Our Troops project at the presidential party conventions, two credit unions, the $134 million Mid Missouri, and the $985 million Anheuser-Busch Employees of St. Louis, are leading a Missouri repeat.
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Pa. High Court Sends Community Charter Case Back to Lower Court
WASHINGTON -- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered a lower court to re-hear a challenge to community charter approvals for three state-chartered credit unions.
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Another Injured Solider Unit in Germany Made Possible Thanks to Andrews Federal Credit Union
SUITLAND, Md. -- Injured soldiers have another Warrior Transition Unit to recover in thanks to Andrews Federal Credit Union.
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Saugus FCU Provides MassAdvantage Loans
BOSTON -- Saugus Federal Credit Union is bringing affordable home loan products to its members through MassHousing's MassAdvantage.
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Billion Dollar Banks' Perception of Small Business May Be Off Base
BOSTON -- Even as credit unions continue to build their presence with small businesses, there appears to be a disconnect between large banks' perception of the small business space and their ability to actually reach them.
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Small Businesses Are Making Hard Choices, CUs Are Making Loans
NEW YORK -- After two weeks of harried scrambling to save the country's financial system, small business owners may be wondering how the outcome will affect them down the road.
Front Page News
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Members United, WesCorp Placed On CreditWatch Negative by S&P
NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's delivered bad news to Western Corporate FCU and Members United Corporate FCU on Sept. 30, placing both institutions on CreditWatch with negative implications.
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With Motivation, CU Secondary Market Could Launch by Second-Quarter 2009
SEATTLE -- According to a white paper that will be presented here Oct. 16, not only could the credit union industry organize and capitalize its own secondary mortgage market, initial programs could begin as early as second quarter 2009.
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Insurance Hike Part of Rescue Plan
WASHINGTON -- Credit unions will see a temporary increase in deposit insurance coverage and be able to sell their troubled assets to the government under the bill passed 74-25 by the Senate last Wednesday.
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Charter Change Debate Underway at KV
AUGUSTA, Maine -- KV Federal Credit Union held two meetings last week to take some questions from the membership and explain why it is looking to merge with Kennebec Savings Bank.
News Briefs
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Should CUNA And NAFCU Become One?
HOBOKEN, N.J -- With six CEOs of large credit unions urging CUNA and NAFCU to merge, Credit Union Times wants to know your opinion.
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Members More Conservative With Investments
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- As economic conditions continue to look grim, readers responding to the Credit Union Times online voting poll said that members are becoming more conservative when it comes to their investments and retirement plans.
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Membership Triples at Washington State CUs
SEATTLE -- The fire sale of Seattle's Washington Mutual Savings Bank capped a year-long surge of new member business to the state's credit unions, according to the Washington Credit Union League.
Regulatory/Compliance
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Alliant CU Purchases Kaiperm Assets
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Alliant Credit Union of Chicago has purchased the assets and assumed all member shares of the recently liquidated Kaiperm FCU of Oakland, Calif., the NCUA announced.
Tech Bytes
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Southwest Corporate Joins SVPCO Image Network
NEW YORK -- Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union is now connected to the SVPCO Image Payments Network.
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Quorum FCU Converting to PSCU for Online Banking
PURCHASE, N.Y. -- Quorum Federal Credit Union is moving to an online banking platform from PSCU Financial Services.
Special Report
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Mortgage Securities Are a Good Investment if Loan Demand Is Low
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Despite all the bad press mortgage-backed securities have received--or actually, because of it--some credit unions are snapping up the controversial investments, which many think are presently undervalued.
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SoCal's Housing Market Back to Affordability, but Will Numbers Hold?
SAN DIMAS, Calif. -- Western Corporate's Vice President of Economic and Market Research Dwight Johnston said recent affordability figures suggest Southern California's residential real estate market may be settling back down to historic norms. However, he cautioned against too much optimism, saying normal isn't guaranteed.
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CUs Developing Ways to Identify Good Members in Bad Loans
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- When a member of Ent Federal Credit Union--a retired military man with an 800-plus FICO score--dropped off the keys to his house early this year because he had not been able to sell it, executives at the credit union knew they had to do something.
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SEC, FBI Investigate Subprime Lending
WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched 50 investigations across a wide swath of the subprime lending industry. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox recently told Capitol Hill lawmakers that investigation targets include subprime lenders, securitizers including investment banks and credit rating agencies as well as the banks and broker-dealers...
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Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Takeover Yielding Positive Results, Says FHFA
WASHINGTON -- The takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is already showing positive signs, such as a substantial decline in mortgage interest rates, James B. Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Capitol Hill recently.
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Credit Unions Go Green and Save Cash With Electronic Closings
OGDEN, Utah -- Kathy and Russ Rosander refinanced their house this month with America First Credit Union. The closing took 20 minutes at the closing agent's office and most of it was done while they were in their pajamas.
Opinions
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Scoring a Winning EFT Network Provider Takes a Game Plan
Pat Riley, considered by many to be one of the best NBA coaches of all time, once said, "Look for your choices, pick the best one, then go with it." Wise words for those involved in professional basketball--and for credit unions looking for the right EFT network.
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A New Paradigm for Credit Unions Strives for Engagement
The credit union movement tries to differentiate itself from any other financial services providers by embracing member satisfaction, best products and services and best employment practices. But at the pinnacle of this model is a sense of excitement and pride on the part of both employees and members.
Editor-in-Chief's Column
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CUNA-NAFCU Merger Talk Needs to Confront Reality
Let's not even try to fool ourselves. In discussions and the recent white paper on merging the two national trade associations, the 800-pound gorilla in the room has been blatantly avoided: This is really all about CUNA acquiring NAFCU.
Letters to the editor
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You Can't Win 'Em All but We Must Keep Trying
Two years ago in the 2006 election cycle, the Credit Union Association of Colorado backed Jeff Crank, a credit union supporter, in a crowded Republican primary field for an open congressional seat in the Colorado Springs area.
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NCUSIF Is Just as Safe
In recent days there has been talk of federal deposit insurance for consumer deposits in financial institutions throughout the media. President Bush, Secretary of the Treasury Paulson, and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Bernanke have been quoted, appropriately, as saying that consumers should consider their deposits safe in FDIC-insured accounts.
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Much Room for CU Growth if They Keep Lending Wisely
I heartily agree with NAFCU President Fred Becker's comments in the Sept. 17, 2008, issue of Credit Union Times, which encouraged credit unions to focus on making responsible loans to members. Becker noted that credit unions have increased their market share of home mortgage loans--to 3.6%. While I applaud the...
Quotes Worth Quoting
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Quotes Worth Quoting
"This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmallow stuck in the middle of it, and I am not going to eat that cow patty."
People
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AWARDS
Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union, Germantown, Md., was selected as a workplace excellence award winner by the Alliance for Workplace Excellence for the second year in a row. In order to be considered for the award, Mid-Atlantic had to complete an assessment that was reviewed by an independent review panel of...
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