Credit Union Times Magazine July-08, 2009

CU Trades Are Gearing Up for Major Fight on Reg Restructuring

By Claude R. Marx

Credit unions often portray themselves as the good guys among financial services providers.

Searching for the Medium Coolest: It's High Tech vs. Personal Touch

By Lindsey Siegriest

In a world where lives revolve around cell phones and the Internet, face-to-face human interaction has, in a sense, become as pass? as a rotary telephone.

CUSOs Can Buy and Restructure Nonperforming Loans, NCUA Rules

By Michelle A. Samaad

While NCUA made clear in a 2005 legal opinion that a CUSO could buy nonperforming loans as part of its debt-collection services, the regulator acknowledged that it had not fully addressed if debt restructuring was allowed.

WesCorp Eliminates Jobs

Western Corporate Federal Credit Union eliminated 30 San Dimas, Calif.-based employees last week, adding to the 60 branch processing staff the NCUA had previously announced would be let go over the next 12 months.

CUNA Lays Off 18 More Staffers

By Claude R. Marx

CUNA terminated 18 people in its Madison office last week as part of a previously announced cost-cutting plan.

Panel Recommends $40 Billion In Borrowing Authority for CLF

By Claude R. Marx

A House subcommittee has recommended that the Central Liquidity Facility borrowing authority be set at $40 billion and not subject to a cap.

Wisconsin Governor Shoots Down Educators Credit Union Car Sales

By Lindsey Siegriest

Last week, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle put an end to a measure that would have allowed Educators Credit Union in Racine, Wis., to continue to sell cars.

CUs Gingerly Try Social Net at Twitter Town Hall

By Michelle A. Samaad

The exchanges were quick and, a few times, heated. But for the most part, the tweets were insightful between small business owners, lenders and others during a recent Twitter town hall hosted by Intuit Inc.

New S.E. League Taps Patrick La Pine

By Jim Rubenstein

Patrick La Pine, executive vice president and head of association services for the Michigan Credit Union League, has been named president/CEO of the newly formed League of Southeastern Credit Unions, effective Aug. 3.

Taking on the Big Banks With Interest-Bearing Checking Accounts

By David Morrison

An Austin, Texas, banking research and development firm says it's offering rewards checking to help community banks and credit unions take back market share from the largest national banks.

Members United Prepares Members With Loss Scenarios

By Heather Anderson

The $9 billion Members United Corporate FCU posted potential loss scenarios in its portfolio update on its Web site, www.membersunited.org.

Ariz. CUs To Merge

By Jim Rubenstein

Citing economies of scale, the $61 million Desert Energy Credit Union of Tucson, Ariz., has agreed to a voluntary merger with the $330 million Pima FCU.

New CUNA Mutual Medicare Partnership Aims to Retain Baby Boomers

By Michelle A. Samaad

In a move to retain baby boomers who have a tendency to leave credit unions after a certain age, CUNA Mutual Group has partnered with Humana Inc. to offer a suite of Medicare products.

With Help From CUs, brass|MEDIA Expands Student Program to Oregon

By Myriam DiGiovanni

First Tech Credit Union and Oregon Community Credit Union joined forces with brass|MEDIA Inc. to provide free personal finance resources and instructional materials to Oregon students and teachers.

CDFI Spreads $17 Million to Nine CUs

By David Morrison

Nine credit unions from six states shared $17.15 million that the U.S. Treasury Department has awarded to credit unions out of the most recent round of funds.

High Court Ruling May Increase Compliance Burdens for FCUs

By Claude R. Marx

Federal credit unions could be subject to additional subpoenas for information from state attorneys general as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued last week.

Missouri, Okla. Leagues Set Joint Meeting for Sept.

The move by state leagues to economize conference planning picked up steam with the Missouri Credit Union Association and the Oklahoma Credit Union League scheduling a joint fall leadership conference and expo in Branson, Mo.

Minn. House Speaker Addresses CU Gathering

Anderson Kelliher, Minnesota House Speaker, recently discussed the state's budget problems during a speech before the Minnesota Credit Union Network.

Consumer Financial Protection: Clear as Mud

By Sarah Snell Cooke

The president last week sent a 152-page wish list to Congress for what he wants out of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Credit Unions Must Do More to Curry Favor With Consumers

With all the bad publicity generated about the banking industry, I expected the results of a recent poll I posted on LinkedIn to be vastly different. The poll consisted of only one statement with two possible choices:

publisher notebook

In recent months, I have heard from a number of readers and advertisers that their copy of Credit Union Times is looking a little thin. Well, there is a recession going on, and thin is in for the time being.

Nonconventional Auto Financing Offers Opportunity Without Extra Risk

Standing out from the crowd usually requires some risky behavior. However, when it comes to auto financing, nonconventional does not necessarily mean more risk.

Time to Be More Aggressive in Marketing Auto Loans to Members

The sharp downturn in the nation's economy over the last year has allowed credit unions to further establish the important role they play in members' lives.

Michigan First Credit Union Posts 130% Growth in Auto Loans

By Eileen Courter

Maybe it's something in the water, or perhaps it's know-how bred in a state where almost everyone has or did have a relative or friend in the auto industry.

SchoolsFirst FCU Encourages Members to Borrow Smart and Buy Smart

By Lindsey Siegriest

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union launched a used car buying pilot program to boost its auto lending and ended up reaching an unexpected group of membership.

CU Employees See Bright Future and Room for Improvement

By Myriam DiGiovanni

The recent D. Hilton Associates 2009 National Employee Opinion Study found that credit union employees are optimistic about their jobs.

Employers Foresee End of Freezes

By Myriam DiGiovanni

It may not be business as usual, but a majority of employers are optimistic that they will reverse hiring and salary freezes within the next 12 months.

Bethpage FCU Sees Quick ROI With New Workforce Management Deployment

By Marc Rapport

The return on an investment in operational efficiency should always be so easy.

Mountain America Revs Up Backup With Virtualization, Electronic Vaults

By Marc Rapport

Travis Rice has entered a virtual world, one in which computer servers at his big credit union "kind of float around based on utilization" and are backed up at cyberspace speed.

SilverCloud Adds Cornerstone Advisors to Knowledge Base

By Marc Rapport

SilverCloud Knowledge Systems and Cornerstone Advisors have partnered to put the consultancy's risk management and compliance expertise on the software company's portal solution for credit unions.

Processor Cites Reups

R.C. Olmstead said it has signed long-term renewal contracts with 27 of its core processing clients in the past 12 months.

Correction

A brief article in the June 17 issue