Credit Union Times Magazine February 16, 2011

A Spotty Uptick For Jumbos

By David Morrison

Even as the housing markets in many areas struggle and decline in the face of ongoing high unemployment, some credit unions have continued to offer mortgages for some of the biggest residential sales.

Full Court Press on Financial Services

By Claude R. Marx

The NCUA's handling of the corporate credit union crisis will be among the credit union-related topics that the House and Senate banking panels plan to deal with during the next two years.

New Chief CU Regulators in Iowa, Alabama

By Jim Rubenstein

The former chair of the NCUA, JoAnn Johnson, is going back to supervising credit unions. Johnson was named last week by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as the state's new superintendent in the Iowa Division of Credit Unions.

Georgia Corporate and Southwest Bridge Announce New Name

By Robert McGarvey

A new name, a new home, and a new deal. All of that now appears to be coming out of the combination of Georgia Corporate with Southwest Bridge.

Trade Economists Foresee Modest Growth, No Double Dip

By Claude R. Marx

ARLINGTON, Va. -- There won't be a double dip recession, but the short-term outlook is for modest growth, the top economists of CUNA and NAFCU said.

Navy Federal Educates Members on Autos

By Michelle A. Samaad

When Navy Federal Credit Union launched its auto buying program, it was important to have a component that would arm members with information that would help them avoid getting into upside-down deals or paying for unnecessary services.

Fed Says CRE Losses May Remain Long After Recovery

By Michelle A. Samaad

Working through the large volume of troubled commercial real estate loans will take time as banks go through the difficult process of loan workouts and loan restructurings.

NCUA Letter: 'Too-Big-to-Fail' Corporate Not an Option

By Robert McGarvey

In a Corporate Credit Union Guidance Letter dated Feb. 8 signed by Scott A. Hunt, director of the Office of Corporate Credit Unions, the NCUA left no uncertainty about its intent to show the way forward for corporate CUs.

Visa Nixes Chips for U.S. Cards

Visa blamed debit interchange as the reason for continuing to delay the adoption of credit cards with embedded chips in the U.S.

Members Embrace Skip Pay Linked to Charities

By Marygrace Murphy

Allowing members in good standing to skip a loan payment during the holiday season can provide them with an extra financial cushion to help cover their expenses.

CUNA Mutual Turns Profit in Tough Times

CUNA Mutual's decision to diversify helped the credit union insurance giant increase its net income year over year despite the poor economic times.

Innovative Products, Services Build New Revenue for Credit Unions

By Myriam DiGiovanni

With financial institutions scrambling to find new revenue streams, a new Aite report identifies the 10 trends that will help.

CU Message Comes to Life in Five Member Videos

By David Morrison

A contest sponsored by the National Credit Union Foundation's REAL Solutions program has brought five examples of the credit union philosophy in action to light.

Federation Eyes Bond Program

The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions is investigating whether and how it could use a federal bond program to help CDCUs boost their secondary capital by possibly millions of dollars.

Wisconsin's Heritage and A-B Credit Unions Merge

After several months of talks, the $200 million Heritage Credit Union of Madison, Wis., has merged with the $50 million A-B CU of Milwaukee.

Duffett Named Sperry CEO

Sperry Associates Federal Credit Union has named James Duffett its new president/CEO.

Charity Gift Cards

South Carolina Federal Credit Union is helping members do more good in their local communities.

Chicago's Alliant CU Completes Merger

The $7 billion Alliant Credit Union of Chicago last week completed the merger of the once-ailing $170 million Continental FCU of Tempe, Ariz.

Call for Golden Mirror Entries

Credit union marketers, it's time once again for the CUES Golden Mirror Awards.

Mann Tapped to Lead APCO

Former APCO Employees Credit Union Vice President Merrill Mann has been promoted to president/CEO.

Retailers Urged To Write the Fed

NACS, the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing, has urged its members to write the Federal Reserve in support of its cap on debit card interchange.

First Premier Bancard Offers 59% Credit Card Solution

First Premier Bancard, the sister card-issuing organization to Sioux Falls, S.D.-based First Premier Bank, is charging an annual percentage rate of 59% on cards aimed at consumers with lower credit scores.

CSCU Rolls Out Card Marketing Tool

Card Services for Credit Unions has unveiled a new Web tool designed to give credit unions better access to some tools to help them better market their credit cards.

NCR Looks Overseas

ATM manufacturer NCR already gets 75% of its earnings from international sales, and the firm said it has put together a sales team to both sustain and grow that market.

Allpoint ATMs Go to Mexico

Now members of credit unions that are members of the Allpoint Network will have access to surcharge-free ATMs while traveling in Mexico.

Banker Pens an Op-Ed

An executive with the Independent Community Bankers Association authored an opinion piece in the Feb. 7 Washington Post decrying the debit interchange cap.

Credit Unions Rock and Here's Why

By Sarah Snell Cooke

Perusing websites and even Twitter trying for an idea for this column, two things struck me.

Harden Your Branches

We have 21 branches, and we think we have a very successful robbery prevention program. The article regarding three repeat robberies at the same branch was unfortunate [Jan. 26, page 1].

CUs Must Build Net Worth

I read the Editor's Column ("CUs Deserve a Complete Capital Restructuring") in the Jan. 26 issue and could not agree more.

Chances To Save And Win

By Myriam DiGiovanni

Many credit unions are helping consumers make the best of these lean times.

Giving Debbie Matz a Helping Hand

By Claude R. Marx

Outsourcing is all the rage in the federal government these days

Sellers Don't Sell ... Buyers Buy

In the many years that I've been involved with this industry, we have always been interested in helping credit unions improve their cross selling capabilities.

Tell Your Members Why Their CU Card Is Better

Sometimes credit unions can assume the benefits of their products and services-including credit cards-are completely obvious to their members.

Can Credit Unions Capitalize on Card Advantages?

By David Morrison

If considered only in a glance, credit union card programs seem extrem