Credit Union Times Magazine July-01, 2009

Space Coast, Eastern Financial Florida Merger Gets Green Light

By Michelle A. Samaad

A little over two months since being placed in conservatorship, Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union will merge into Space Coast Credit Union.

CUNA Mutual in Deal for Record Keeper

By Michelle A. Samaad

CUNA Mutual Group has struck a deal to buy CPI Qualified Plan Consultants Inc., a retirement plan record keeper.

NCUA Details Premium Projection

By Heather Anderson

The NCUA explained in greater detail last week how it was able to reduce its initial projection for an insurance premium from 0.30% to 0.15%.

Aiding the Unemployed

By Jim Rubenstein

With an eye on the state's 14.1% unemployment rate, the $1 billion Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union said last week its program to aid adult workers in finding new jobs "has more significance than ever."

Seeking Top-of-Wallet Status, CUs Offer Customized Card Designs

Credit cards can be an effective form of advertisement for a credit union. Just think about how many times a day a card is pulled from a wallet and seen by cashiers, friends, family and the next person in line.

Randy Chambers Elected Chairman of National Federation of CDCUs

By Myriam DiGiovanni

There has been a changing of the guard at the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.

CUES Begins Offering a Series of Cost-Control Guides for Lean Times

By Lindsey Siegriest

To help guide credit unions looking to operate as leanly as possible in these challenging economic times, the Credit Union Executives Society has released a series of cost-control manuals.

Fed's Bernanke Says Systemic Change Can Strengthen CDFIs

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke told the recent Global Financial Literacy Summit meeting in Washington that there needs to be "systemic changes to correct weaknesses that have emerged in the current CDFI model."

Arrests Made in Florida

By Jim Rubenstein

North Florida credit unions helped the U.S. Secret Service and police in Jacksonville crack down on an ATM fraud that caused $300,000 in CU losses over 18 months.

Three Troubled Milwaukee-Area Credit Unions Enter Merger Mode

By Jim Rubenstein

The merger trend took center stage last week with a trio of Milwaukee area credit unions, all affected by February's collapse of Central States Mortgage Co., opting to look for merger partners.

Blankers and EasCorp Score Bronze Quill

The $1.2 billion Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union and its Kansas City-based communications firm, MJB Public Relations Group, have been awarded a Bronze Quill from the Kansas City/International Association of Business Communications.

NCUA Dusts Off Emergency FOM Exception for Alaska USA Merger

By Heather Anderson

The $4 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union offers membership to those who live or work in Alaska and Washington.

NuUnion CU Joins Council to Promote Hiring Persons With Disabilities

By Michelle A. Samaad

Steve Winninger has seen firsthand how a physical impairment isn't a barrier to being a valuable contributor in the workplace. But it was a recent tour of a Michigan company's new facility that convinced him even more.

REALTORS FCU Joins CU 24 ATM Network

By Claude R. Marx

Further extending it virtual outreach, REALTORS Federal Credit Union has joined Credit Union 24's ATM network.

CUMA Webcast to Cover Government Stimulus Participation

By Jim Rubenstein

Strategic Mortgage Solutions' Tracy Ashfield will moderate an ACUMA-produced Webcast on July 7 that will provide information about how credit unions can participate in government stimulus benefits like the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.

ACUMA Webcast to Cover Government Stimulus Participation

By Jim Rubenstein

Strategic Mortgage Solutions' Tracy Ashfield will moderate an ACUMA-produced Webcast on July 7 that will provide information about how credit unions can participate in government stimulus benefits like the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.

TwinStar Uses Collaborative Marketing, SEGs to Build Payroll Services

By Michelle A. Samaad

When TwinStar Credit Union launched a CUSO in 1985 that offered credit, life and disability insurance to its peers, no one could have predicted the entity would morph several times over.

Shout It From the Hilltops: Use a Team Approach to Tout Business Services

If your credit union provides business services, do your members who are also business owners think of you for their business accounts?

Intuit Tight-Lipped About PayCycle Acquisition's Impact on Credit Unions

By Michelle A. Samaad

It remains to be seen what impact Intuit Inc.'s purchase of PayCycle Inc. will have on the credit union industry's relationship with the online payroll service provider and member-owned small businesses.

Georgia Central Launches Small Biz Market Campaign

By Michelle A. Samaad

To woo small business owners during a time when banks have scaled back lending activity, Georgia Central Credit Union has launched a campaign for credit unions to capture market share.

No News at America's CU Conference May Be Good News

By Sarah Snell Cooke

Credit union executives and volunteers from across the country traveled to Boston last week to celebrate 100 years of credit unions and 75 years of CUNA.

Budgeting Tool Gives CUs a Jump-Start in Right Direction

By Lindsey Siegriest

In my column last month, I wrote about how credit unions need to start embracing the technology that many banks use.

CUNA Considers All Points of View

In tumultuous times such as these, it's no surprise that credit unions will not always be unanimous about the variety of issues they face.

Other Reasons to Sell Portfolios

A June 10 article, "Two Big Credit Card Portfolios Were Sold in the First Quarter," missed a larger part of the story.

Online Does Not Financially Savvy Make

Cu Times Editor-in-Chief Sarah Cooke's column of June 17, urges credit unions to upgrade their technology, especially by implementing a transactional Web site.

Mica Was Wrong to Covet TARP

I wonder how many were struck by the irony when Dan Mica thanked President Obama for keeping the NCUA independent when just a short time ago he was asking for TARP funds, just in case of an emergency.

Looking Back

Thirteen years ago, the role of a credit union teller was beginning to evolve. Advances in technology were creating more remote-access opportunities for members and predictions were made about the future of the teller position.

American Airlines FCU Mourns Manager

American Airlines Federal Credit Union, Fort Worth, Texas, is mourning the death of former La Guardia Branch Manager George Portalatin.

Prime Alliance Elects Kryzak

Zigmund Kryszak, senior vice president of organizational development at GTE Federal Credit Union, has been elected to the board of directors of Prime Alliance for a two-year term.

Baton Rouge Credit Union Lets Third-Graders Grab $1 Million

By David Morrison

The $251 million E Federal Credit Union awarded two eight-year-old boys with $1 million, allowing them to keep one day's interest, or roughly $42.

Best Buds Chuck and Leroy Go Nuts in First Tech CU Branding Campaign

By Jim Rubenstein

Oregon consumers are getting to know lots more about credit unions this summer thanks to both a new branding campaign by First Tech CU of Beaverton and an awareness ad blitz sponsored by the Credit Union Association of Oregon.

Mica Urges CU Movement to Be Optimistic and Proactive

By Claude R. Marx

BOSTON -- Those who work for credit unions have much to be optimistic about because of the opportunities bequeathed them by the problems of other financial institutions, yet they need to proactive in light of the current political climate.

Experts Emphasize Relentless Efficiency and Risk Management

By Claude R. Marx

BOSTON -- A relentless drive for efficiency and a proactive approach to risk are among the keys to improving a credit union's net worth.

Celebrating CU Trailblazers

By Claude R. Marx

BOSTON -- CUNA reached into the history books and onto the front pages of newspapers at its America's Credit Union Conference & Expo to celebrate key figures in the history of credit unions.

Experts in the Dismal Science Do Their Best to Live Up to the Name

By Claude R. Marx

BOSTON -- The economy will get better, but it will take a while for a full-fledged recovery to kick in, according to CUNA's top economists.

Body Language and Helping Others Are Keys To Success, Self-Help Experts Tell Attendees

By Claude R. Marx

BOSTON -- To succeed in life, don't just strive to make money but also to make the world a better place. To get ahead in business and life, learn to read other people's body language and be sure to know what your body language says about you.

Trades to Hold Joint Conference

By Claude R. Marx

CUNA is going global and WOCCU is going local.

Scholarships

Black Hills Federal Credit Union, Rapid City, S.D., announced the recipients of its 2009 ViBZ! scholarships.

East

Holy Rosary Credit Union, Rochester, N.H., announced the promotion of Megan Dean to senior teller of the Dover branch location.