Credit Union Times Magazine March 16, 2011

Build It, They Will Come? Hogwash, Says TruMark

By David Morrison

PHILADELPHIA — “You know that line about ‘if you build it, they will come?’” asked Oscar Torrealva, branch manager at the $1.3 billion TruMark Financial Credit Union's branch in the financially strapped Eastern North Philadelphia.

Harborstone Credit Union Embraces Small Business Administration Loans

By Michelle A. Samaad

While Harborstone Credit Union has been offering business loans since 2002, the Lakewood, Wash.-based cooperative could not have predicted how great member demand would be for the SBA’s programs.

TCF Builds an Attack Against Debit Interchange Cap

By David Morrison, Claude R. Marx

Overturning a proposed debit interchange cap on legal grounds may set a precedent against exempting credit unions from future regulations that affect large banks and other financial institutions.

Federal Reserve Panels Mull Interchange

By Doug Rubinstein

The interchange cap, loan demand, compliance burdens and corporate pricing are all figuring in the early discussion of those newly named Federal Reserve panels composed of bank and credit union CEOs.

Growth in Payday Loans: A Sign of the Times

By Michelle A. Samaad

Unemployment, rising debt and financial uncertainty are continuing to change the perception of those who are using payday loans.

Credit Unions Find Success With Interactive Outreach

By Myriam DiGiovanni

Credit unions are slowly navigating their way to connect with members online.

Filene Wins Grant to Aid High-Risk Borrowers and Their Lenders

By David Morrison

A program developed by the Filene Institute's i3 initiative has won a $300,000 grant from the Center for Financial Services Innovation to roll out a program that will reward CU members who have low FICO scores for making loan payments on time.

Students, CUs Face CARD Act Hurdles

By Myriam DiGiovanni

The reality of the impact that the enactment of the CARD Act has had on credit unions that offer credit cards to university students has been a mixed bag.

Debt Repay Is Priority

By Michelle A. Samaad

With members expected to continue paying down debt, credit unions could see the same type of savings growth experienced in 2010.

Trust Services Evolve as Members’ Needs Fall, Rise

By Michelle A. Samaad

At Visions Federal Credit Union, the face of wealth has taken on different and nontraditional features.

Exec Pay Disincentives, Lending Demonstrations

By Sarah Snell Cooke

First regulators put the squeeze to your credit unions and now the squeeze is on credit union executives.

ABA’s Keating Seeks Unity and Common Ground

By Claude R. Marx

On issues such as debit interchange and limiting the growth of future regulations, banks and credit unions are on the same side of the political divide. On others, such as credit unions’ tax-exempt status and raising the cap on member business lending, the industries’ interests diverge.

New Products Offer Opportunities for Growth

By Sophie Schmitt, Aite Group

While credit unions weathered the recession better than large banks, they are searching for new sources of revenue to counterbalance slow loan business and potential losses on the debit card side resulting from the interchange fee cap.

GAC: Promises, Promises

By Claude R. Marx

Now comes the hard part. Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo famously said that “you campaign in poetry and govern in prose.”

Olympic Medals for Reading

Lincoln Elementary School recently hosted the Pottstown School District’s Reading Olympics. John Faust (far right), president/CEO of Diamond Credit Union, and Chip, Diamond CU’s mascot (rear, center), were on hand to share in the competition.

Cards Dominate Fraud Worries

Half of the respondents in a 14-country survey about fraud concerns cited cards as their main worry, yet 10% of them in the U.S. said they carry their PINs with those same cards.

Auto Lending Rebound Awaits

Credit unions may be gearing up to assist members even more given that the sale of new cars experienced a 25% increase in January.

New Charges to Come in May on Credit Union Credit Cards

Some members of credit unions that sold their card portfolios to banks in agent-issuing agreements will face another round of fees in May as Bank of America has announced it will impose a $59 additional fee on some accounts.

Postal Federal CU Plans To Develop a New Name

There’s a new name on the horizon for Postal Federal Community Credit Union.

Iowa Spotlight on Member Business Lending

Credit unions are offering business loans at a critical time, just when other financial institutions are pulling back, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad recently said.

Grand Jury Hearing On Gaymon Shooting Case

A Political Solution Should Not Set Mortgage Standards

By Bill Brooks, CU Prosper

Part of the fallout from the mortgage meltdown is the debate on what constitutes a qualified mortgage.

Strong Corporates Can Help Credit Unions With ALM

By Rodney May, Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU

Protecting CUSO Operations Against Scrutiny

By Michelle A. Samaad

When NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz spoke at a December Senate hearing on new regulations on natural person credit union risk concentrations, she pointed out that the regulator is also looking into performing its own exams of third-party vendors that provide services to NCUSIF-backed credit unions.

CU-State Alliance Gives N.C. Retirees New Option

By Michelle A. Samaad

The idea came from someone who worked with the state of North Carolina’s retirement division and who also served on the advisory board at one of State Employees’ Credit Union.

CUs Can Help Shelter Members From Scams

By Pat Huddleston, Investor's Watchdog LLC

As investors recover from the economic meltdown of 2007 through 2009, they are anxious to find attractive investment returns.

Investors Worry Most About Retirement Income

By Michelle A. Samaad

Some members may be among those investors that are still skittish about risk when it comes to their investment choices and if they are adequately prepared to retire.