Credit Union Times Magazine June-16, 2010

Credit Unions Converge on Washington for Interchange Fight

By Claude R. Marx

Credit unions took their case for keeping the status quo on interchange fees to Capitol Hill last week as House and Senate conferees began their effort to reconcile the different versions of the regulatory overhaul bill.

Durbin Amendment Lacks Economic Foundation

By David Morrison

As Congress contemplates whether to pass a law regulating debit card interchange, a majority of economists and government officials attending a meeting on the subject agreed that there is no economic basis for the proposed regulatory change.

New Legislation Takes Aim at Sleazy Auto Dealers Near Military Bases

By Lindsey Siegriest

In the movies and on TV they're easily recognizable by the plaid coat, slicked back hair and too-good-to-be-true sales pitch.

CUs Stand at the Altar as Community Banks Ogle a Lending Jackpot

By Claude R. Marx

The House last week was slated to pass a bill establishing a $30 billion fund for community banks to draw on to increase business lending.

LPL Financial Observes Quiet Time After Filing Initial Public Stock Offering

By Michelle A. Samaad

With the recent filing with the SEC for an initial public stock offering by LPL Financial Corp., it remains to be seen what impact, if any, the move will have on the company's more than 230 credit union clients.

After Plea, Meta Bank Employee in Stolen CDs Case Awaits Sentence

By Michelle A. Samaad

A bank employee who pleaded guilty in July 2009 in a case involving $4 million in stolen certificates of deposit from four credit unions and other financial institutions is scheduled to be sentenced this month.

HarborOne CU Brings Financial University to Low- and Middle-Income

By Michelle A. Samaad

The debut of a new financial "university" by HarborOne Credit Union to serve low- and middle-income communities has received praise from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

A Change Master Offers Guide to Personal and Institutional Makeovers

By Claude R. Marx

Is your credit union in need of new members? Is your career in a funk? Don't just stand there stewing and ruminating. Instead, reinvent your credit union and yourself.

Brancucci Is Named New President/CEO of GTE FCU

By Lindsey Siegriest

Joseph Brancucci has been selected to fill the slot of president/CEO at GTE Federal Credit Union left vacant at the end of last year by Bucky Sebastian.

Sponem Is Summit CEO

By Jim Rubenstein

In a management succession long in the planning stage, Kim Sponem, president of the $1.4 billion Summit Credit Union, Madison, Wis., will be named CEO, effective Oct. 1, succeeding veteran Andy Faust.

New York Coalition Highlights CDFIs' Growing Clout in Economic Recovery

By Michelle A. Samaad

The White House and Congress are starting to recognize the impact community development financial institutions are having in providing affordable housing expansion, small business support and financial services to urban and rural areas.

Filene Study Details Ways to Make Everyone's Good Ideas Bubble Up

By Myriam DiGiovanni

When it comes to generating innovative ideas is your credit union tapping the same old sources?

PrimeWay FCU Nears NCUA Approval on TexasOne Merger

The $279 million PrimeWay FCU of Houston is nearing regulatory completion for a merger with the ailing $125 million TexasOne Community CU, also of Houston.

NAFCU Names Winners

Core Federal Credit Union and Pentagon FCU have both been named NAFCU's federal credit union of the Year.

Hiring Still On Hold for Many Small Businesses, Survey Shows

By Michelle A. Samaad

Small business owners are still skittish about hiring new employees even as some indicated they have access to the credit and financing needed to keep their firms running.

Miami Firefighters Federal Credit Union Names New CEO

By Michelle A. Samaad

Patrick Totten is the new president/CEO of the $73 million Miami Firefighters Federal Credit Union effective June 1.

CMN Match Marches to $1 Mil. Goal

Enlisting the help of credit unions, the Co-Op Miracle Match program has again promised to raise $1 million for the Children's Miracle Network by the end of fiscal 2010.

Robbie Thompson Is Named CEO of Mid-America Credit Union Association

By Jim Rubenstein

Mid-America Credit Union Association has named Robbie Thompson as its new president/CEO. Thompson is vice president and general counsel at the $280 million Members Cooperative Credit Union of Cloquet, Minn.

Diebold to Pay $25 Mil. To Settle Fraud Charge

The Canton, Ohio-based ATM provider Diebold Inc. has agreed to settle an allegedly fraudulent accounting case that inflated the company's earnings by at least $127 million, the SEC said earlier this month.

Rejoining CUNA, Redstone CEO Cites Interchange

After a seven-year hiatus, Alabama's largest credit union, the $2.6 billion Redstone Federal has officially rejoined CUNA and the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, with its CEO pledging help in the interchange fight.

MBL Reg Revision Would Be Prompt

If the member business lending 12.25% asset cap go to 27.5% or higher, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz reiterated how the agency would be ready to revise the member business lending regulation.

North Jersey FCU Designs Banking for Muslims

Muslim members of North Jersey Federal Credit Union will have access to a new Islamic banking division in line with their spiritual beliefs.

American First CEO Bob Street Retires

American First Credit Union President/CEO Bob Street has retired after 20 years of service.

CU Locator Site Traffic Up

The favorable press heaped on credit unions recently has also triggered a jump in those online find-a-CU services offered by trade groups, primarily CUNA and NAFCU.

Investment Project Targets Underserved

By Michelle A. Samaad

Now that it has some tangible evidence from a nearly year-old project that provided training to credit union employees on investment education, the Wisconsin Credit Union League is gearing up to reach the poor and underserved.

CU Locator App Launched by Maryland-DC Foundation

The Credit Union Foundation of Maryland and the District of Columbia has released what it calls a first-of-its-kind credit union search application for Apple devices.

TMG Adds Vista Alerting, Mobile Banking

TMG is now offering its 230 credit union customers the ability to provide their card-using members with mobile banking and transaction alerting solutions.

Bradford-Scott Claims Wisconsin CU as New Core Customer

Bradford-Scott Data Corp. said it will be converting Sheboygan Area Credit Union to the Sharetec System core processing platform.

Antifraud Tools Touted

By Claude R. Marx

Mountain America Credit Union said it has seen a sharp reduction in false positive rates while picking up more real fraud attempts since it began using a new deposit account fraud and compliance solution.

Big Brazilian CU Signs Accenture IT Outsourcing Contract

One of Brazil's largest credit unions has contracted with Accenture to provide information technology support and systems development as the credit union moves through a period of anticipated growth, the company and credit union said.

SMS Text Banking

More than 150 members of First Community Credit Union signed up for the suburban St. Louis credit union's new mobile text banking service in the first month of its offering.

Cyber Attack Test Results

The report has come out from a nationwide simulated cyber attack on the nation's ACH, check and card payment systems earlier this year.

Harland Offers Merger Services to UltraData Users

By Marc Rapport

Credit unions running on the UltraData core platform are now being offered formalized data conversion merger services by Harland Financial Solutions.

Fiserv To Launch P2P Service

By Marc Rapport

Fiserv Inc. plans to leverage its CheckFree bill pay network for a new person-to-person (P2P) service that will allow users to send payment to anyone with an e-mail address or mobile phone number.

Can Credit Unions Handle and Embrace a Vendor Network Shift?

By Michelle A. Samaad

Are the days of simply creating back office efficiencies becoming old hat as credit unions continue to generate ways to remain relevant to their members?

Open the Door to the Next Evolution: Collaboration Is Not Optional

The credit union industry has always been unique in its willingness to cooperate, but the need to collaborate today is undeniable.

Interchange and Business Lending Have Credit Unions Tuned In and Turned On

By Sarah Snell Cooke

The number of credit union executives from across the country that turned out on Capitol Hill for the interchange battle was very impressive, especially on such short notice and when travel budgets have been practically bled dry.

The Many Critical Challenges of Communications During a Crisis

It was great to see the disaster-recovery articles in the May 19 issue, which addressed a common theme: the importance of communication during crises.

Beware of Card Brokers Bearing 'Free' Reviews

If you sell your credit card portfolio there is a very good chance that the broker will make more money from that sale than you will.

People

HarborOne Credit Union, Brockton, Mass., announced that Barry Koretz was appointed chairman of the board of directors.

Donations

Bay Federal Credit Union, Capitola, Calif., employees were honored at a recent United Way of Santa Cruz County awards ceremony for fundraising at local businesses.

Community Events

Point Loma Credit Union, San Marcos, Calif., hosted students from San Marcos High Schools during its "Job Shadow Day" program.

Branching Out

TruMark Financial Credit Union, Trevose, Pa., celebrated the opening of its 13th branch. The credit union held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new branch located at Parkwood Shopping Center in Philadelphia.

Clearview FCU Files Complaint Against Debt Settlement Company

By Michelle A. Samaad

Name confusion among its members prompted the $625 million Clearview Federal Credit Union to file a complaint against Clearview Credit Inc., a Florida debt settlement company.