Credit Union Times Magazine August 1, 2012

Is Alaska in a Boom or a Bust?

By Candice Reed

Alaska credit unions led the country with 92% reporting positive return on average assets during the first quarter, according to the NCUA’s Quarterly U.S. Map Review.

MBL Hike Dissidents Speak Up

By Heather Anderson

Members of the so-called “silent majority” of credit unions that oppose S. 2231, the bill that would increase the member business lending cap for credit unions, spoke out as banking lobbyists pressed the issue to lawmakers.

NCUA Unveils New Exam Office

By Heather Anderson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — NCUA resources are being disproportionately applied to small credit unions and skimping on large credit union supervision, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz told NAFCU’s annual conference attendees during her general session address July 24

Vt. Regulator May Nix 'Banking' in CU Ads

By Jim Rubenstein

The banking industry’s longstanding effort to deter or prevent credit unions from using the words “bank” and “banking” in advertising was advanced to a new plateau last week with a proposed cease and desist order placed by the state’s top regulator on the $600 million Vermont State Employees Credit Union.

North Coast Credit Union Teams Up to Aid Small Farmers

By Michelle A. Samaad

A few years ago, North Coast Credit Union in Bellingham, Wash., started working with several of them in the area. Terry Belcoe, president/CEO of the $122 million cooperative, said the food offered to those in need was not the healthiest on the shelves and in the bins.

Card Settlement Retail Opposition Grows

By David Morrison

An increasing number of retailers appear to be coming out in opposition to the recent proposed settlement of the antitrust case centering on credit card interchange.

Editor's Column: A Farewell to Tom Greve

By Sarah Snell Cooke

I’d like to extend a hearty thanks to Tom Greve, who has served as Credit Union Times publisher for more than four years. It came as a surprise when he announced internally that he was leaving. I know how much he has enjoyed working within the credit union community–or “movement”...

From the Publisher: Time for New Challenges

By Tom Greve

Friends, Friday, Aug. 3 will be my final day as publisher of Credit Union Times. The time has come to move on to new challenges and make room for the next generation of professionals.

Women's Summit Learns There's More Equity Work to Do

By Myriam DiGiovanni

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The biggest takeaway from NAFCU’s inaugural Women’s Leadership Summit held during its annual conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort was that there are no limits.

Grow Financial Gets Memory Boost With Virtualization

By Marc Rapport

Even in the virtual world, you can run out of real memory. That was the case at the $1.8 billion Grow Financial Federal Credit Union in Tampa, Fla., where its technologists recently completed a revamp of its virtual data center.

Tower FCU Offers Mobile Apps

By Marc Rapport

The 124,000 members of the $2.5 billion Tower Federal Credit Union now are being offered mobile apps. Included are apps for iPhones, iPads and Android phones and they are available at the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, the Laurel, Md., credit union said.

LenderLive Lands Alliant

By Marc Rapport

LenderLive Network Inc. said the $8.4 billion, 274,000-member Alliant Credit Union in Chicago will be using the Denver company’s technology and mortgage services.

University of Hawaii FCU Goes Mobile

By Marc Rapport

The 24,800 members of the $544 million University of Hawaii Federal Credit Union now have a new website and online and mobile banking services.

T8 Expands, Plans Staff Adds

By Marc Rapport

Twenty more jobs are expected to be eventually added to the new Des Moines, Iowa, offices of T8 Webware, the company said.

Tech Credit Union to Take on XP2

By Marc Rapport

Fiserv Inc. said the $311 million Tech Credit Union in Crown Point, Ind., plans to convert to the company’s XP2 account processing platform.

Tech CUSO WRG Marks 10 Years

By Marc Rapport

The technology CUSO of the $2.5 million Wescom Credit Union in Pasadena, Calif., is celebrating its first decade of providing software and technology service solutions to credit unions.

Bluepoint System at Schools Financial CU

By Marc Rapport

Bluepoint Solutions Inc. has installed an in-house system at the $1.4 billion Schools Financial Credit Union in Sacramento, Calif., to replace the item processing work it had been doing with a failed corporate credit union.

Guest Opinion: MBL Hike Could Aid 10 Industries

Nearly five years after the housing bubble burst and the financial system collapsed, politicians are still clamoring for new ways to free up capital and spark growth across the country. The most recent effort, put forth by Sen. Mark Udall, proposes to increase the lending limit of credit unions from...

Guest Opinion: No One is Interested in Your Ads

By Sue Woodard

One of the most intriguing concepts in understanding and marketing to Gen Y – and who doesn’t want a younger membership – is that they don’t like to be sold to. In fact, in our world of information overload and marketing-clogged brain cells, no age group is really all that...

Letter: 'Bank’ Ad Ban: Are You Serious

The recent decision by the State of Vermont Department of Financial Regulation ordering the Vermont State Employees Credit Union to stop using words such as “bank” and “banking” in its marketing, communications and advertising begs the question, are you really serious?

Letter: NCUA Aims for Tailored Rules

By Debbie Matz

The suggestion in the Editor’s Column [July 25, page 4] that a Republican administration could mean a 180-degree turn in credit union regulation is unfortunately partisan.

Letter: Content is No Longer King

By Laura M. Enock

I loved Myriam Di Giovanni’s article on gaming and financial literacy[July 18, page 1]. I couldn’t agree more with the fact that people spend more time playing electronic games than balancing their checkbooks (can you really blame them?) and that credit unions are in the best position to give consumers the...

Ed Speed to Retire in October

This fall will bring a few changes in leadership at Texas DOW Employees Credit Union. President/CEO Ed Speed has announced he will retire effective Oct. 1.

Fecher to Congress: Tell CFPB to Exempt Credit Unions

Douglas Fecher, president/CEO of the $2.45 billion Wright-Patt Credit Union told lawmakers last week to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to limit regulatory burden by using existing tools, such as the power to exempt credit unions from its rulemaking.

CEO Pay Ticks Up

The average credit union CEO now makes $260,807 a year, according to the 2012 CUES executive compensation survey released last week.

N.H. CUs Plan Merger

Two New Hampshire credit unions, the $720 million Northeast Credit Union of Portsmouth and the $112 million Woodlands CU of Berlin, announced last week they intend to merge by year end.

New Chair at NAFCU

Michael Parsons, president/CEO of the $330 million First Source Federal Credit Union in New Hartford, N.Y., has been elected NAFCU chair.

East Idaho CU Names Bauges CEO

East Idaho Credit Union has tapped Brad Bauges as its new president/CEO.

Pannier Leaves REALTORS FCU

Jane Pannier, CEO of the $75 million REALTORS Federal Credit Union, will take a position as senior vice president at NeighborBench, a cloud-based platform that connects credit unions with a team of compliance experts, on Aug 1.

Social Media Usage Surprises

By Eileen Courter

Who’s posting on your credit union’s social media sites? Could it be those teens and 20-somethings that seem to have their cell phones and tablets surgically implanted in their hands when they’re born?

Amid Bank Industry's Woes, Time for CUs to Shine

By Myriam DiGiovanni

Sure, there are challenges, but overall, this may be a great time to be a credit union marketer.